Chapter 30: Welcome to servitude
All Riven could hear and see was the promise of power that hung in front of him. The shadow spoke the language of the dead that tasted like raw iron and smelled of damp places.
He jerked forward as if he was under control, and as he got closer, so did the shadow. It was when he got so close that he noticed the shadow wasn’t just a shadow. It was a person wearing a shadow.
And the hand was holding something to the side.
It was that thing the shadow was holding that drew his attention.
It was a book. He knew it was, but just like the man, it was covered in a thin layer of flickering darkness. The man reached out with the book, and without a second thought, Riven stretched out his hand to collect it.
But just as his hand was about to reach it, the shadow’s right hand shot forward, and something jabbed Riven painfully. He recoiled, and whatever force was holding him fell away.
"What the..."
He retreated several feet back and lifted his hand. His right hand was bleeding, the palm torn open by what appeared to be a small blade. The pain wasn’t much, but it stung.
"What did you do?" he asked. The wound wasn’t even healing, not immediately. The aura from his body flowed toward the wound, but it was as if he was trying to heal something dead.
The shadow didn’t reply. Instead, the book in its hand floated up by itself and hung in front of him. The shadow raised its hand, and a blob of blood joined the book.
Riven felt a chill spread from his wound to the rest of his body. His eyes widened.
"That’s my blood."