England, West Coast
Devonshire, Dartmoor
Unknown place - Somewhere in the woods
November 5, 1898, 10:26 p.m.

"Dear Doctor, over the centuries I have been given countless names, none of which I consider my own. The Israelites in Egypt called me Balam during their captivity. When the Nemesians sailed for Ireland and I settled here, I became known as Goemagot. Later I was called the Witch of Vixentor. The Serpent of King Teudar, the Black Rider of Poundstock, the Devil of Brantor Church, Cutty-Dyer, and finally the Black Dog of Richard Cabell. But my favorite name and the one that best describes my nature is the Dragon of Manaton." as he spoke his voice swelled. It grew fuller and the words more accented. 

He even spread his arms as if to present himself in his full appearance before Benjamin. The expression on his features, full of anticipation and flashing eyes, raised brows, and jutted chin suggested that he was expecting a bow or shaking knees.

Benjamin perceived the aura of menace that would probably have sent any smaller creature with less self-control running. Assuming, of course, they didn't immediately suffer a heart attack from bottomless fear. But Ben did not understand. And so he only frowned.

"What?"

There was no such thing as dragons. Whatever this man might be, he was without a doubt completely insane. To the doctor's great concern, the one who knew about such creatures and could have guessed the truth behind all the boasting was not here right now. And that gave him another attack of trepidation as if someone were stabbing crystal with a knife.

At Ben's unsuspecting question, he saw the change in the arrogant man's expression. His features slipped, then distorted for a split second into a stunned and then furious grimace. The facial expression the figure presented was pure nightmare material. He drew back his lips and bared the inhumanly long and polished rows of teeth. The blackened gums gleamed wetly in the glow of the red feather and the pointed teeth gleamed greedily in the moonlight. Ben felt as if he were once again staring directly into the face of a snarling beast.

Then the creature let out a rumbling snarl, took a step towards the viewfinder and Ben inevitably backed away. He almost tripped over a larger branch, but quickly regained his footing and the creature stopped abruptly. It regarded him closely, eyed Ben appraisingly, and seemed to regain control of its surging lust for murder.

Meanwhile, the former soldier gritted his teeth and felt the grip of his revolver under the firm pressure of his fingers. It was the only thing that reassured him and gave him steadiness and self-assurance in this situation. Every rough edge where the wood turned to metal. Every engraving, and the tiniest screws now undoubtedly left their mark on his skin. Only with the weapon could he at least defend his life. As long as he had a weapon, he had a chance. But he was well aware that he would probably need more than a revolver. Damn it, WHERE was Crowford?!

The dark eyes with the chasms of burning coal pits regarded Benjamin like a naughty sheep that had run in the wrong direction due to his lack of intellect. As if it was up to him to correct this sorry mistake like a shepherd dog, he started in a now thoroughly precocious tone.

"I'm the reason for the dead in this dump," he explained to the doctor and he licked his lips with his long tongue as if he could still taste their blood like delicious wine.

Benjamin shuddered at the sight. There was so much rapture and pleasure in this gesture that it caused disgusting revulsion in him. According to Benjamin's guess, he could not be a simple wizard or a black magician. He possessed too many inhuman traits, more akin to a monster than a human.

"Why all this!!! What does this have to do with the little girl?!" hissed Benjamin coolly. He needed to get as much information out of him as possible before this one did something stupid or dangerous. Although neither he nor this thing moved, he felt as if something was breathing coldly down his neck. Had the shadows grown darker? His gaze only dared to be drawn away from the man for a moment, but then immediately clung to the eerie figure again.

But it just stood there, with its crooked neck and pitch-black eyes, watching him. It was an eerie sensation that could not be dispelled even by gripping the gun tighter and telling himself that a bullet had so far killed everything that had come before the barrel of his revolver. Even the monstrous wolf.

"Why?" the black man asked with a sneer, his quill waving like a snake of fire far from any logic in the windless air. "Because we have an agreement, the little thing and I," he said completely coldly, far from any feeling or honest emotion in the inhuman features. Ben wondered why he answered his questions so readily. It set an uneasy foreboding in his stomach and made that spasm.

"What kind of deal exactly?" heard Ben's own voice continue to ask. Where was Kyle, though? Did it help if he stalled for time so the mage could find his way here as he had?

The sinister figure clicked its tongue, then raised its head again and straightened it. It seemed to him that he was now considering what and whether to answer him after all.

"Ah, Doctor, that's a very good question." he purred, curling his lips, "Five people in exchange for my freedom." the figure replied tonelessly and Ben felt as if he were standing in front of a door and wasn't sure he wanted to open it. Something sinister lurked behind it, already grating on his nerves. The forest creaked and groaned as if it wanted to whisper to him. His heart beat wilder and faster.

"What exactly are you saying?" he gritted out, increasingly irritated. He had no time, no nerve for riddles and half-spit breadcrumbs thrown at him like a stupid chicken. The worst thing was: he couldn't help reaching for those. The pain in his chest increased constantly.

"Lies!" he then pressed out. He remembered the girl, how she had stood frightened and fearful behind the door. Of how her eyes had grown big and lit up because Kyle had shown her a little magic trick. "She would never have done that! She would never have gotten involved in a deal like that!"

The man raised his long, scrawny eyebrows. His face contorted into a grimace of blank scorn. He jutted his chin and managed to look down on Ben even from that distance, that all at once he felt as if he were no more than a cockroach.

"She wouldn't have had innocent people killed!" barked Ben's voice at the creature. His arms trembled between suppressed anger and a piercing cold that crept under his skin.

"Innocent?" the figure asked, then let out a laugh so shrill that Ben winced under it. It was a thoroughly vicious sound, so ugly and repulsive that all at once Ben had a sickening taste in his mouth. The black man threw back his head and laughed, laughing at the top of his lungs. But then, all at once, it stopped and the look of glowing coals bored its way into Ben's soul. His neck became tight as if long claws were wrapped around it, and he gasped for breath, hoping to escape the feeling.

"INNOCENT!" the dark shadow now hissed in fiery disgust and its features deformed. As if parts were breaking out, black pieces splintered off and then simply scattered like ashes in the dark mist. In this fit of rage, his skin seemed to suddenly wrinkle and wrinkle, shining as if covered in sticky, milky slime. He bared his teeth and drew back his thin lips, revealing the yellow curved tips in pitch-black gums.

"A man who rapes his foster daughter and even knocks out children's teeth. A priest denies an old woman worship and pushes her down the church steps. A boy who spits on a helpless girl together with his friends dips her in a pond, even pisses on her, and presses her face into shit. An arrogant, self-righteous girl and her friends pelting a child with stones, cutting her hair and clothes with scissors." he hissed like a snake, then suddenly, like a madman, far from any logic, he emitted another throaty laugh.

He ran his long, skinny fingers through his tousled hair and inhaled deeply. As if he had noticed his failure and wanted to master it, he pursed his scrawny, bloodless lips and restarted in a calmer tone. "Oh, Doctor, if these souls were truly untainted and innocent," almost acting out the word, ".... someone of my kind could not have harmed them at all." Again a smile crossed his lips. "Fortunately, there is no one in this world who is truly innocent..." no sooner had he finished these words than his body abruptly dissolved into black mist.

The contours of his form blurred, jerkily pulling apart, and in the next instant, Benjamin pulled the trigger as the grimace appeared directly in front of him. The shot slammed into nothing as an iron grip grabbed his arm and simply yanked him aside with the ease of a puppeteer. Benjamin wanted to jump back. His heart raced so violently that he thought it might change from the frantic drumming of fear to a single, never-ending sound. Eyes wide, he slammed his other hand forward, ready to sink his fist into the black figure's face. But this too seized the beast with unexpected ease.

Ben's muscles and arms trembled with the strength he had to expend in an attempt to free himself from its grip. But in vain.

The creature leaned closer to him. The smell of charcoal and decay clung to the black man, stinging Ben's nose so intensely that he tried not to breathe.

Now the figure was so close that he could feel the icy, stinking breath on his face and recognize the leathery texture of the skin as he leaned down towards him. Benjamin was almost dizzy from the breath pouring from the man's mouth. His stomach turned and just in time he managed to suppress gagging. He tried to concentrate on the words, to breathe shallowly or preferably not at all. But he found it difficult. The stench was so oppressive as if he were holding his nose directly into a decomposing carcass that was just charring over a crackling fire. Only a little more would have been needed for their noses to touch and Benjamin heard the rip-toothed grin in the sinister voice as the black man murmured:

"No one is innocent... Not even you."