Dryvus grins back at her and leaves, heading straight to the inn and straight up to his room. When he gets there, he shuts and locks the door. He takes a few deep breaths, and then takes the staff out of its clasp, sits cross-legged on the floor, and lays the staff across his lap, thinking.
Okay. I know something is horribly wrong with me, and I need to figure out what it is before I end up hurting myself or someone else. I suppose I could try what I learned from those guys up in the mountains...
He closes his eyes, and tries to focus, centering himself, and trying to find the source of his... Problem. He casts around in his mind for something. Anything, really, that could possibly be the source of this problem. He reaches deep inside his mind, sifting through childhood memories, when he feels it. Something dark. Alien.
Something that isn't supposed to be there.
He zones in on it, and suddenly he experiences a sensation of falling. He jerks awake and looks around. The room of the inn is gone, replaced by... He couldn't see. It was dark. Too dark. Dryvus' heart started beating faster, a response to his sudden fear.
"Who... Who are you?"
The voice is strange, like a snake rustling over dead leaves. Dryvus starts, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I- I'm Dryvus Maxin. Who are you?"
"My name does not matter. In fact, it has been so long that I've completely forgotten it. Dryvus Maxin... Why does your name sound...? Ah... You must be his son. I'm surprised Harak even had a son..." The disembodied voice says.
Something shifts in the shadows to Dryvus' right. He turns, his fists raised. By this time, his eyes have adjusted to the darkness and he can see up to a certain point.
Although he immediately wishes he couldn't. What comes forward is a creature born of a twisted nightmare. Pale, corpulent skin, bleeding hollow sockets where eyes should be, long, grotesque fingers topped with sharp talons, and A face with no nose, simply a gash of a mouth filled with double brows of long, needle like teeth.
Dryvus swallows, trying not to scream.
"Terrified? As you very well should be. I am what you call Invunche. Born of your family's greed for power. Your many times great grandfather sought me out, seeking invincibility in battle. I must admit, the human tricked me into giving him and all his descendants the power. A power, which, I'm sure you've seen, comes at a terrible price. Now tell me, mortal. What are you here for?"
Dryvus swallows again, then, overcoming his fear after realizing that the Invunche didn't want to hurt him, he says "I want to get rid of the curse. Tell me how. I don't want to kill anymore." He says. The Invunche chuckles, a sound like multitudes of bones cracking. "You would give up invincibility in battle? As much as I would like to do so, mortal, I... Cannot. The curse will remain with you and your descendants till the end of time as you know it." The Invunche says.
"W- what? But there has to he some sort of a way to alleviate it? To at least lessen the impact it has on me?" Dryvus cries out, grasping at straws. The Invunche is silent for a few minutes, then, "There is a way... It will work better for both of us. I tire of this form anyway." The Invunche fixes Dryvus with its hollow sockets. "To change this, you must commit an equally brutal act. Not killing, of course, but something equally brutal. Something that too, is a part of war." The Invunche murmurs, spreading its hands. "What? What is it?" Dryvus asks. The Invunche smiles, the gash of a mouth widening, almost to the point it looks like it split his face.
"Rape." The Invunche says. Dryvus is hardly shocked. "I've been doing that the whole time. Why haven't you done anything?" He asks, annoyed. The Invunche simply tilts its head to the side. "Silly mortal. You are the first I have spoken to in nearly 500 years. My essence is trapped within you. And if you want it to change from one of death to one of... Life, I suppose I should call it, it needs both our permissions. Now, do you agree to my terms?" The Invunche asks. Dryvus nods once. The Invunche holds out its arm. Thinking it wants a handshake, Dryvus does the same. Before he can react, the Invunche has pounced on his arm, biting it hard enough to draw blood, and at the same time pressing its other bleeding arm into Dryvus' mouth. Surprised, he swallows some of the liquid. It was sour and salty, and tasted like every drink in the world that had gone bad had been mixed into his blood. Dryvus staggered away, spitting out the stuff in his mouth.
"And now, the deal is done. Begone, mortal, we shall see each other again." The Invunche laughs again, Dryvus' blood still on its teeth. Then, the Invunche waves his hand, and before Dryvus can say anything, he's back in the inn room, covered in a cold sweat and shivering. It is only after a full minute that he realizes that Frasia and Altra were staring at him in concern. He looks down at his right forearm, hoping against all hope that everything he saw was a dream.
On his arm was a double row of tiny cuts.
