Calcifer closed his eyes. The images of the surroundings slowly faded from his mind. As they become darkness, the inky black forms different images, ones that only he knows and understands. He opens his eyes again slowly. They are no longer the pale grey that usually resided within them. Instead, a sharp hard steel grey emerged. His wings unfurl a brilliant white slowly while he crouches slightly.
The surroundings had changed. The world was not longer of the gentle autumn forest. Harsh jagged lightning rent the dark sky, sending the acrid scent of ozone to Calcifer. He growled softly. The acid from the rain burnt him but the pain was nothing more than an annoyance. The cackling trees clutched at him with pricking thorns and sharp branches. Although some pierced him deeply, he ignored the pain. A howl tore the air as Calcifer passed by the twisted mirror of the forest.
He stopped at the edge of the forest, still and silent. The frigid wings swirled through the trees and ripped razor edged leaves from their fragile perch. They slipped through the air, lacing Calcifer with numerous lacerations. Still he remained silent and waited.
A dark shadow slowly coalesced together into the vague form of a dragon. As it formed, Calcifer's low growl heightened in pitch then paused.
Why have you come back?
Calcifer slowly sank to the ground as a heavy pressure was exerted onto him. He grunted with the effort of resisting it but he pushed back and the pressure dissipated. He ignored the dragon form and turned to the empty air around him.
"I have to know…"
The shadow dragon sank into the ground and spread out as shadows.
Calcifer, you dare oppose me?
Shadows slowly pooled around the dragon's legs then sprang up into bindings of iron. They pulled him down to the ground, cracking one of his bones. He roared in agony as burning pain tore through him. He crumpled to the ground, feeling the shadows wrap themselves around his throat and wings. Shock ran through him, as the shadows became shreds of lightning. He roared silently in pain.
I created you and I can destroy you!
Calcifer resisted the urge to faint and stood up, carefully keeping his weight off his leg.
"I know the world. I know death. I know everything. You can't destroy me."
Die!
Lightning howled and twisted in spirals towards Calcifer.
To name is to know.
He stood still and the lightning shattered even as it flew. Birds of carrion and beasts of death charged.
To know is to understand.
They faded from existence even as Calcifer ignored them. A scream of hate and despair echoed through the empty plane, tearing trees into fragments as they shattered from the sonic waves.
To understand is to control
They faded and Calcifer remained unharmed.
Why…why…?
Calcifer stepped forward and the whole material of the mirror contorted around him. The shadow dragon roared and crashed to the ground, solidifying into a flesh and blood dragon. It groaned softly as Calcifer stood above it.
"Black dragon of the night."
The dragon winced even as Calcifer murmured his name.

To name is to know.
To know is to understand.
To understand is to control.

A harsh scream tore the air even as the material of the plane dissolved into the original fabric of time.
"I was never your creation. You were mine."