Two nova white eyes glared at him and a chill breath rippled upon his neck. He lay, bound to the darkness by molten chains that singed his arms. A foreign mind clawed at him, driving painful daggers into his soul.
His stomach went clammy.
Maanta was alone.
He did not know where, although something felt familiar. Where was he?
“Come to me,” the spoken sounds scathed within his mind. “Come and be adorned.”
“Who’s there?” Maanta replied. “What do you want of me?”
“I am power. I am strength. I am darkness.” Sizzling, the nova eyes glared within him as the words were spoken from the darkness beyond them.
“What do you want of me?”
“I am lust. I am hatred. I am fire. I am sin.”
A shiver swept through Maanta’s body. What truly was this thing speaking to him? What was happening?
“I am denial. I am jealousy. I am fear. Do you fear me?” It spoke in low ominous tones. “Come to me! Come and be adorned,” it hissed and roared at the same time.
Maanta huddled in a corner of the darkness with the light of the reflecting nova eyes shimmering across his face, unable to speak. Water began to sizzle about him, forming boils upon his flesh. Tears flowed from his open eyes.
And then Maanta realized where he was. His tears stopped. He had been here before. He had been here many times. This was the dream. The boils on his skin and the burning scars about his body disappeared and the Nova white eyes took a shape before him.
“Do you know what I am?” the thing hissed in Maanta’s thoughts, its serpent body swirling in the blackness and steam curling from its eyes.
I do, Maanta thought. And yet I can’t say the word.
“You know me?” the serpent laughed wickedly.
“Lucifer,” the word leapt from Maanta’s lips.
The serpent coiled and its shimmering white eyes flinched. “Join me!” It hissed to him. “Together we can rule the depths!”
“Never.” Maanta float stilly in the darkness. A massive opal trident appeared in Maanta’s hands, ridged to the touch. How did the dream end last time? he thought.
“Then one of us must die!” the serpent hissed. “And it will not be me!” It leapt at Maanta and then time and motion seemed to stop. The glowing-eyed serpent stopped in mid water. All was still.
Another voice entered Maanta’s mind, this one having no clear, defined form. “To best the Devil, one must be above its tricks and sins,” the voice spoke. “If you do not hate, do not lust, are not gluttonous, have no greed and do not kill then the Devil cannot exist.”
Time, space and matter stood still. The serpent slithered a mere foot away from Maanta’s chest and his heart thumped harder and faster, as if about to explode.
Everything evaporated into tiny bubbles and darkness consumed Maanta’s dream.