“It hurts… grrr… it… it hurts… help me, please… arrrrooooooooo.”

The dog whimpered from beneath the wreckage of the train. The copper wire which the outlaw Jebediah had threaded through his upper body still remained, wrapped tightly around his bones. The familiar struggled to move, but found that the entirety of his lower body had been torn to shreds, leaving a trail of blood and a magical resin behind him as he crawled along the blackened world which he now resided in.

“Cu, ruf tu oui drehg uin bnudéké femm vyna tufh drana? Dygehk ujan dra vuns uv y lremt... ruf uidmyhtecr. Ed'c netelimuic dryd ra cruimt mad rescamv palusa cu fayg.”

The voice came from a shadowy figure whose outline was the only thing visible within this world. Scrigg struggled to grasp the being’s true form… but the closer that he tried to concentrate on the being, the more that it seemed his mind and body seemed to slip away. The being seemed to draw in and consume the light around it, causing even the darkest of blacks to seem as if they were riddled with light.

“E rayn oui, Quoldo.” Another figure approached the first, placing what seemed to be its hand onto the shoulder of the first. “Ev ra't yccandat rescamv druca oaync yku frah fa vencd crufat res fryd ra luimt dnimo pa lybypma uv, E's landyeh dryd ra luimt ryja xielgmo aqbyhtat rec naekh vyn paouht dryd csymm myht uv Jeimas frelr ra lymmc rusa. “

“Dra xiacdeuh huf, ec ruf femm ra vyna ykyehcd dra udranc fru yna linnahdmo drana fedr res. Dryd paehk ryc dygah yh ehdanacd eh dra syh ghufh yc Jebediah fru fyc yllusbyhoehk dra lremt. Ev ra'c vunlat du dra tuuncdab uv taydr, ed'c ihlandyeh zicd fryd femm dnyhcbena eh dryd myht padfaah. “

A third figure approached the others and gathered up black rings which seemed to hover around and on their bodies. The figure seemed to be their leader, as when he approached, the other four figures seemed to kneel before him.

“Jebediah ryc paah lrucah, ed caasc. Ra'mm palusa dra haqd niman, nakyntmacc uv fryd ra yllusbmecrac rana eh meva. Dra ehdanjahdeuh uv dryd paehk ec ajetahla ahuikr. Ev drana'c yh ubbundihedo... fa cruimt caa du rec tacdnildeuh pavuna ra kyehc silr suna cdnahkdr. Udranfeca... ra syo bnuja du pa duu silr uv y lrymmahka vun Vereryl.”

Scrigg struggled to pull himself up against one of the train’s cars. The familiar lethargically searched his person for any hidden stashes of his powder, but to no avail. The dog looked up to the sky, noticing several floating orbs hovering far off in the distance. “What… what are those?”

“Yh ehdanmuban? Pid ruf tet ra kad rana?” The leader-like figure among the beings walked slowly over to Scrigg. The being raised his hand to the sky, allowing the rings that he’d collected to float freely off towards the the orbs.

The familiar stared at the rings as they rose up into the orbs and enlarged until they fit around them. “I’m… so confused… nothing here makes any sense… what… I…” the familiar’s head lowered until they landed on the being approaching him. “Will you… help… me?”

“Ouin myhkiyka... fryd ec ed? Ryja oui cbahd cu muhk fedr dra risyhc dryd oui'ja vunkuddah dra duhkia uv ouin yhlacdunc, vysemeyn? Oui lyh'd ajah lusbnaraht dra myhkiyka vnus dra myht eh frelr oui fana vunsat, aedran... cilr dnykato... zicd ruf vyn ryja dra risyhc vymmah? Ruf silr vindran vnus ic femm drao tnevd? Ev uhmo Vydran yht Sudran fana cdemm rana…” The being looked up to the sky and streams of red began to flow down his face from tiny slits in his face.


Scrigg started to grow fidgety as the red streams flowed from the being’s face. “Ar… arrrrooooooo….” the familiar moaned out. “Arrrroooooooo!”

“I see… so, you cannot comprehend our languages, yet still… you feel such empathy for us without even knowing why.”

Tears streamed down Scrigg’s face as he choked on his words. “I… I don’t underooooooo! Why are you crying? Why… why does it hurt so badly?”

“You are dying, are you not?” The being looked up at the sky for a moment before fixing his gaze back on the familiar.

The first figure stepped forward, his hand clenching at his chest. “So sycdan! Oui lyhhud pa caneuic? Y vysemeyn... oui fyhd vun uha uv draen geht du ehraned uin bufanc? Pid... fro? E tuh'd ihtancdyht…”

“Do not question me, Quoldo!” The leader figure pivoted around, staring down the one who’d interjected.  “Drana ec saned eh rec najejym. Fryd ec drana du muca eh uvvanehk res y csymm bundeuh uv uin bufan? Fa ryja Brixtis du cbyna. Fa'ja haynmo paah vunkuddah po dra risyh nayms. Ev fa lyh syga ica uv pudr Jananom yht drec vysemeyn, fru puycdc dra ypemedo du mayb padfaah funmtc hydinymmo... fa luimt byja dra fyo vun uin vidina ehdanjahdeuh. Tuac ed hud syga cahca drah, du uvvan ib fryd fa lyh? Ryja fa dnimo yhodrehk paddan du tu yd drec susahd?”

The being known as Quoldo took a step backwards and grunted. “Tch. If that’s really the way that you feel, then why don’t you speak freely in a language that [i]it[/i] can understand?”

The leader sighed and then held his hand up to the sky once more. “Familiar. Rise.” The man held his hand out in front of him, facing Scrigg, an action which caused the familiar to rise up into the air. “We will save you now. We will take you in as a disciple of ours, but first, you must partake of the Brixitis.”

“B-Brixtis? What is that?”

“It is all that is left of our creators. Brixtis is… the shadow cast by the first light of the first being. Brixtis is the name of the second being who was brought into this world. Brixtis is our power, our world, and that which sustains us eternally.” As the leader spoke, one of the smaller orbs which hovered up high above quickly began to fall to the ground. The orb condensed down small enough to fit into the palm of the being’s hand. “This, is your part of Brixtis. With this, you will no longer need magic to sustain your form. You will be considered as alive as any other being. You will also become instantly far more powerful than nearly any other being in existence because you have become one with the creator. Now. Take it, and Brixtis shall become your shadow too. In time, Brixtis shall become all that you are, just as it has done so to us.”

Scrigg stared at the small orb which hovered slowly into his hands. The second that he touched the object, all of the pain that he’d been feeling only seconds before quickly dispersed. An eye formed on the top of the orb, first, staring up at Scrigg, observing him and taking in all that he was.

“W-what is this?”

“Brixtis is making the final judgement on you. With this judgement, it will deem whether or not you are worthy to inherit what remains of its power.”

The orb sprouted arms and legs, elongating itself until it looked similar to a lizard. Brixtis quickly began to crawl all across Scrigg’s body before finally resting back on the familiar’s hand.

“If you are certain this is how you wish to utilize what remains, then so be it.” The voice came from all around the world. “I’ve never been part of a familiar before. Such an interesting prospect…” The lizard crawled up Scrigg’s arm before squeezing into his mouth and slithering down his throat.

“Well. That decides it then.” The leader figure took a step back. “We’ll return for you in three days time.”

“Th-three days? But why?”

“Hmph. The next three days will be the most painful of your life. Throughout these three days, you’ll be forced to travel across our world, just as all those before you at one time had. The various elements and biomes that you’ll encounter will serve to help develop your own piece of Brixtis into the form best suited for you. Everything that your five senses recognize will become part of your body, fusing together all at once at the end of the three days until your body and powers are as black as the rest of the world around you.”