Ring Around the Rosie

[Alan]

For the living, time passes at a set and steady rate.  Tomorrow is always now before you're ready for it, and yesterday is last week when you want it to last forever.  The moments you treasure the most are the ones that seem the shortest when they are gone and past.  When you look back on your life, the brightest memories are the briefest of flashes among the meandering trail of monotony.

Alan eyed the fox in front of him.  All around them was darkness.  It wasn't a darkness he ever remembered seeing.  It made black seem paltry in comparison.  And yet, with the extreme lack of light surrounding them, he could still clearly see Vulpuz before him.  The fox tilted his head.

"Well?"

Alan shifted.  Practicing in front of a mirror was one thing.  Telling the dark one to his face that he was an unfair, sadistic, cold hearted brute who deserved a good thrashing was another.

Vulpuz laughed.  "That hardly seems to be a good enough reason to show up on my door step."

"I'm already dead.  What could you possibly do to me?"  Alan felt the words leave his mouth before he could catch them and hold them back.

The red eyes narrowed, and without seeming to move, Vulpuz suddenly seemed to be a great deal bigger.  His dark cloak taking on the darkness around them and swirling on a silent wind of intimitation.

"Would you really like to know?"  he asked quietly.

Alan stared at those unblinking eyes.  They sucked the very thoughts from your mind, and ripped the soul from your body.  The eyes of death were never satisfied, they always hungered for more, and they never slept.  

He took a step back.  "No."

Vulpuz seemed to shrink a little.  Or at least, be a little less death like.  "Good."

"I want to make a deal."  Alan swallowed.  This was it.  He could feel the ghost of his heart pounding hard in his chest.   Or at least, he imagined he could.  It would have been nice to feel something.

The fox snorted.  "What could you possibly have to offer me?"

Alan spread his paws.  "I killed Morleo."

Vulpuz pulled a scroll from his robe and inspected it.  "No you didn't.  It quite clearly states here, in very clear language, that Rousseau killed him."

Alan smiled.  "But think of this.  I killed Seren.  The rat who embittered him to be what he was."

"Your point being?"

"Rousseau may have indeed killed Morleo.  I killed the one who made him what he was, preventing her from any further meddling with your precious Kotir."

"And I gave you your life, which, so sadly, you seem to have wasted."

"That's not enough."

Vulpuz laughed.  His voice invading more than just Alan's ears.  It peirced his mind, and sent it's derision into his very soul.  

What is it you want Captain?"

"I want Konner back."

Vulpuz waved a paw.  Seems rather a paltry request.  No riches?  Fame?  Beauty?"

"I wasn't finished."

"Oh, so you have other demands of me?  Please tell."

"I want my wife back."

"That's hardly my concern.  You were the one who sent her away in the first place to punish yourself.  After all, it was you who caused all your torment in the first place.  Why should I repair the mistakes you made.  Actions have consequences, Captain.  Even children know this."

"I'm still not finished."

"I assume not."

"I want to live again, and I want you to promise that those I love will never be harmed again."

For a long moment, the fox stared at him.  Then he shook his head.  "I won't do that."

"Why not?  You can bring creatures back to life, but keeping them safe is beyond your great power?"

Vulpuz smiled tightly.  "I do not upset the fates.  They're not exactly, shall we say, pleased, with my current meddling in your little lives.  I'd hate to disturb them further."

"Yes, I'd imagine that spirits who spend their time cutting threads with sizzors are quite intimidating."

"You haven't seen the sizzors."

Alan crossed his arms.  "Then you will give me nothing?"

"Why should I?  You offer nothing."

Alan took a breath.  "What if I told you, I left orders with a trusted servant of mine.  If I am indeed found dead, he will, dispite Morleo's death, continue with the rat's plan to demolish Kotir.  And everything, will be for naught."

Vulpuz shrugged.  "I've yet to meet a creature who takes orders from a dead beast without twisting them in some way."  He matched Alan's gaze.   "And I could simply take his life now."

"Then why did you not do that with Morleo and save us the pain and trouble and death of destroying him?"

"It was more fun this way."

"Go to hell"

Vulpuz waved a paw, and fire arose around him, it's orange light flashing in the darkness.

"Welcome."

Alan drew back from the flames, but no matter where he looked, they surrounded him.  Their hungry tongues licking at his fur, burning into his skin, blinding his eyes...  it...

Vulpuz waved his paw again and they vanished.  Alan took a breath, but Vulpuz spoke first.

"Play a game with me?"

Alan eyed him warily.  "Why?"

"Humor me."

"You always win."

"Then you have nothing to do but gain if I lose."

Vulpuz turned his head, and waved a paw.  In the darkness between them, a table appeared, a familier checkered pattern etched into the top.  With another wave, the pieces of a chess game appeared, the white pieces as pale as bleached bone, while the black faded into the darkness around them.

Alan rolled his eyes.  "Chess?  Isn't that just slightly cliche?"

Vulpuz took a seat.  "I prefer the term, traditional."

Alan took the opposite chair.  In front of him, the white ivory gleamed.  He inched a pawn forward.

They played in silence.  Even the mink, his tongue clenched between his teeth, had no remarks to make.

Play by play he watched as his knight was  captured.  His other knight fell.  A pawn was slaughtered ruthlessly by a bishop.  Caught in a crossroads of pawns, his castle fell.  His bishop was removed without mercy.  As he moved his queen into play, two knights moved in to intercept her, and his king stood unprotected.  Alone.  
Vulpuz chuckled.  "What will you do now, Captain?"

Alan stared at the board, but there was nothing for him.  The pieces stared at him with a stark finality.  There was no escape.

He picked up his king, and laid it down on it's side.  

"I surrender."  His voice was hoarse.  

Vulpuz shook his head.  "The cowards way hardly befits you Captain."

Alan stood, his paws reaching own and pushing the table over, sending pawns and castles tumbling into the darkness.  He threw his chair after them.

"What more do you want from me?" he asked, his chest tight with rage and terror. "Konner stands between life and death.  And in neither world can I be with him.  Without him,  I'm sworn by you to be in misery until death.  I can't even read my wife's letters.  The females at Kotir are no more than dry and faded fantasies that lead to more agony.  I drink to forget, but you know what?  Alcohol only makes it worse.  So do I forget?  Do I ever forget?"

He slumped down, his arms hanging limp by his sides.  "Never."

Vulpuz blinked at him.  His entire being flashing into nothingness as his eyes closed, only to reappear as the red glow illuminated him.  Reaching out, he touched Alan's head.

"Live," he whispered softly.  "But remember, to never forget."

Alan looked up, but there was nothing he could see.  The fox was gone, and the darkness was fading into light.  His eyes squinted shut against the brightness, but it penetrated his lids, grinding into his brain.

Pain shot through his chest, it's searing whiteness consuming him.  

He screamed.