For a few moments after the darkness vanquished the last remaining light Valdir had vainly tried to see, looking for any sort of variance in the sea of black, looking for any sign of life where he knew that Isis had been only an instant before. There was nothing. He had reached out, hoping that his eyes were the only senses tricked by the blinding darkness, but he had quickly learned that he could feel nothing; not Isis, not the building behind him, and most unnervingly, not the ground beneath his feet. He called out, or thought he did, but was greeted by stark silence. He had quickly come to the startling realization that it seemed that his senses were as good as useless here, but then he heard the voice, turned towards it, and--though largely indistinct--saw the familiarly cloaked stranger.
With some surprise Valdir realized that the figure didn't seem to be talking to him, but speaking to an area that seemed undistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding space. Valdir frowned, listening to the stranger's words.
"...After all, this is all in my head."
After a few moments the stranger continued to speak, but Valdir was only half paying attention to his words, his thoughts remaining with the figure's previous remark. Only in his head? Valdir looked around, still seeing nothing but darkness and the lone figure that stood amidst it. If this was in the stranger's head, then it was certainly nothing that Valdir had ever imagined the inside of a person's head to look like....Not that he spent a lot of time imagining what it looked like inside people's heads. However, pure darkness wasn't something he thought would cover an individual's mind...unless....
Where Valdir's thoughts wandered, things certainly didn't bode well.
But if this truly was all in the stranger's mind, then...
"...why am I here?" Valdir called out his question, ignoring the fact that the stranger was still speaking into the darkness.
The darkly cloaked figure paused in his speech, cocked his head towards Valdir and his question, then turned to face the elf. "You're not here," he replied, his voice suggesting that he shouldn't have to explain. "That would be impossible. Only I'm here. This is all in my head," he repeated, a childish, yet somehow sinister laugh escaping his lips as he paused briefly. "Oh certainly you think you're here, and I think you're here, but you're really not."
"How can you think we're here but know we're not?" The stranger's replies were frustrating. They didn't make sense, yet they were spoken as though they were obvious, simple answers.
"I think you're here because you've had some experience with the rest of me. You're here because you know where I am."
Valdir stared at the confusing individual. He was sure that if he had any sense of feeling in this place he would be getting one massive headache.
"Now," the stranger continued, "where am I?"

Isis listened intently to the stranger's side of the conversation. His words were confusing, but they seemed to make a twisted sort of sense as well. Certainly the fact that she could neither feel nor see anything-- including herself--could be explained by the fact that she wasn't really there at all, but it was a disturbing sort of explanation. If she wasn't really there, why did she think she was there? It as almost as though her own mind were working against her, setting her in this strange place, not physically but mentally. Unless there was something else at work here. Something like-
"The Demon Star," Isis gasped, her mind beginning to set things into place.
The stranger paused, his attention once more on Isis. "Yes," he replied, "that's what they called it. My prison and I. I wish to be reunited with myself. Tell me where the Demon Star is."
"I..." Isis faltered, not sure what to say. To reunite the creature with the Demon Star would almost certainly spell disaster for the world. "I don't know," she finished, and it was the truth. She could only assume that Alerik had the Demon Star with him, and at this critical juncture she didn't even know where the demon was. For all she knew he could have fled with the gem any time after she and the others had entered the town, but the creature's next words seemed to argue her thoughts.
"It is very near," he stated. "I can feel it."

Up above where the street had been Alerik lay and listened to the creature speaking below. The absolute darkness didn't bother the demon much, nor did the idea that he was presently laying on nothing--at least nothing that he could feel in his present state. What did bother the demon was the fact that the Demon Star had somehow rolled out of the pocket he had kept it in and was casting a muted red glow into the darkness, and in his present state Alerik simply couldn't put it back--couldn't even touch it. It made perfect sense. The gem contained a part of the creature, and the creature stated with some certainty that they were in his mind and that he himself was the only thing that was real here--and it only made sense that that included the portion of himself that was locked away in the Demon Star.
Alerik sighed under his breath. There was little he could do now but hope that the figure didn't look up. He hadn't glanced upwards yet, and the hood of his cloak hung so low over his face that the upper portion of his vision had to be greatly obscured--this at least was in Alerik's favor.
However, it seemed that Alerik's luck was running low. Even as he watched the subtle movements of the figure below the creature suddenly turned his face towards Alerik, lifting his head and in the same movement raising a hand to down his hood, clearing his line of vision and allowing his eyes to come to rest first on Alerik, then on the quietly glowing gem that lay beside him. Alerik watched as the cold silver eyes of the creature slowly returned to the ground--or where the ground would be were it visible--and then it seemed that everything changed.
Truly very little changed, at least judging by outer appearances. The shift back to reality returned them to a very similar scene--the night was so dark as to be nearly impenetrable, but the immediate area was dimly lit by the flickering lights that reached the street through the tavern windows, and if one looked hard enough there were now visible other lights, filtering through other windows along the street; in the light stood both Isis and Valdir, neither one looking as though they quite knew what had just happened and both looking very surprised. The biting wind also returned, chilling and stinging exposed skin, lashing at clothing and hair, howling through the night on an unacknowledged mission.
The return of one's senses after having them taken is indeed a drastic change to the one experiencing the sudden deviance, but Alerik didn't have the opportunity to take in the adjustment; his senses returned to find pain waiting for him along with the foreboding feeling of vertigo. Before he had the chance to react to the fact that he was suddenly falling the ground greeted him, afflicting him with yet another sensation, this one of painful impact.
Had Alerik been of a less resilient kind he may very well have been stunned or seriously injured, but as it was he regained his senses even as he felt the pain of hitting the ground, and within a moment of landing he had rolled up to his knees and climbed to his feet, his staff pulled into a defensive position in front of him. The defensive posture, however, was unnecessary at the moment because the dark creature, with hood still downed, stood not on the ground but atop the building where Alerik had been laying only moments earlier.
Alerik had turned just in time to see the glowing Demon Star following his own path, plummeting to the rocky ground. If the gem hit the hard terrain it would almost certainly crack or shatter, but the individual on the roof looked unconcerned, watching the gem drop with the hint of a smirk on his face.
Hardly had Alerik noticed the falling gem before he caught the other nearby movement. It seemed he had not been the only one to see the Demon Star's fateful path, nor had he been the first; Valdir dashed forward, his hands outstretched towards the falling gem, instinct moving him faster than thought ever could. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief as the gem fell graciously into Valdir's waiting hands--relief from all but the creature who stood atop the tavern roof.
The cloaked individual frowned slightly as he looked down at the small group on the ground below him, disappointed that the gem had not hit the ground--a tiny fracture was all he needed to be able to retrieve himself from within the Demon Star, and now his simple attempt had been thwarted. Those on the ground, expecting the worst from the creature atop the tavern, were surprised when he simply emitted a sigh of disappointment before sitting down, his legs dangling over the edge of the roof, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands as he peered down at the small group below him. "How is it you wish to do this then?" he questioned coolly, seeming unconcerned by the newest development. "I want the Demon Star, and you do not want me to have it. How shall we settle this? We could fight for it...." He trailed off, eyeing the small group skeptically. "Do you wish to fight for it?" he asked, his voice full of doubt. "It's been quite some time since I have done so, but I'm sure I could oblige if that's what you want."
"No," Isis answered quickly. "We don't want to fight." She felt positive that should a fight break out the creature would undoubtedly walk away the victor, prize in hand, and that would likely be the most positive possible outcome to a physical battle. Isis paused and felt thankful when no one argued her assertion.
"Then what do you suggest?" When after a few moments of waiting no response came to his question the creature sighed loudly. "I suppose we shall have to fight...if there is no other option available."
Isis rushed to think, blurting out the first alternative to a fight that came to mind. "We could play a game," she said quickly, then almost immediately felt a fool for her childish suggestion.
The creature, however, did not seem to think her suggestion foolish. "A game?" he questioned, leaning forward curiously, his hands dropping to a position beside his legs on the edge of the roof. "What kind of game?" He paused, seeming to sense Isis's obvious surprise at his reaction, and her uncertainty and indecision as to what sort of game to suggest. "I have a deck of cards," he offered helpfully. "Do you know any card games?" His previously cold silver eyes seemed almost lit with eagerness and joy at the prospect.
Isis could think of a number of card games, but none of them seemed particularly promising. But somehow she had the feeling that there was one she was missing somewhere in her repertoire of card games, one that she should remember, one that would be ideal for this circumstance. She was certain she had played it once. The game had been called an Ancient name...."Lerus Ren Tarmu."
Cocking his head to the side the cloaked figure on the roof grinned broadly. "Lerus Ren Tarmu," he repeated, having heard Isis's quiet remembrance. "It's been nearly forever since I've played that." Without delay he reached into the fabric of his cloak and pulled out a small package--a deck of cards bound together with a thin strip of dark material and carefully tied. "I think I should like to play it again. Shall we find somewhere out of the wind? I would hate for the wind to interrupt our game."
Without awaiting a response the creature dropped from the roof, landing gracefully on his feet in the midst of the small group. Unquestioningly he turned, opening the door of the tavern and proceeding into the building, the sounds of raucous drinking filing out past him. Isis sighed with relief to find that the bar fight had been broken up sometime while they had been outside and now it was the normal sounds of a rowdy bar that greeted her ears. Without argument the three remaining in the street followed the creature into the bar and to an empty table near the back of the room, as far from the rest of the occupants as possible. Their arrival went practically unnoticed and was met with disinterest by any who did see them--such a motley group was not considered strange in this town.
"Now, who shall oppose me?" the creature questioned quietly as he took a seat at the table. He asked the question without looking up, instead focusing his attention on unraveling the strip of material from around the aged deck of cards.
Valdir leaned close to Isis. "I've never even heard of the game," he told her quietly.
Isis bit her bottom lip uncertainly, glancing down at the Demon Star that rested quietly in Valdir's hand. Doubtfully she looked to Alerik; the demon stood with arms folded across his chest and his gaze directed at the table where the creature had begun sorting out the cards, separating numbers from faces. She doubted that the demon had ever played a simple game in his whole, long existence, and she doubted that he was willing to begin now.
With a resigned sigh Isis approached the table and seated herself in the chair across from the dark creature, who glanced up at her with a small grin. Wordlessly he pushed one of the piles of cards across the table to her before picking up the larger of the two piles and beginning to shuffle the cards. Lifting the smaller pile--the face cards, she realized--Isis followed the creature's lead and began to shuffle.
Shortly the creature paused, once again returning his glance to Isis. "Winner take all?" he half stated, already knowing that 'all' was exactly what was being played for.
Isis simply nodded and the creature was already deftly spreading the newly shuffled numerical cards in a fan across the table, their intricately decorated backings facing the ceiling. At the creature's gesture Isis reached forward, uttering a prayer in her mind to any higher power that might be listening that she would choose winning cards. Pulling four cards from the fan and resisting the urge to look at them she lay them face down in a row on the table before her, and the creature did the same. Then it was Isis's turn to create a smaller fan of cards, which she did with some small skill. The creature chose first, pulling a single card from the fan and placing it face down on the table above his four chosen numerical cards. Isis did the same.
With the unused cards cleared from the table it was time for the game to begin.
'...This story is about a time when this very game is used to determine an important outcome upon which the continuance of this world depends. A young girl, not yet into her twenties, sits and plays this same game with a creature that holds the power to bring this world to a dark end. She plays to keep this from happening...and the creature plays for an opposite end...'
"As the game was played it was normal for the players to plead their cases to Fate, to try to influence Fate's decision so to speak..." The creature trailed off, and Isis stiffened slightly at the familiar words. "However," the creature continued with a distracted chuckle, "Fate can't hear us here. We both are on our own."
Isis shifted uncomfortably at the creature's words, then with determination turned the first card.
'...The girl turns over a ten...the highest of numerical cards, while the creature turns over a meager four....The girl wins the first round....She is pleased, for much is at stake and it is a good start. If only her luck will hold out...'
Isis sighed in relief. It was only the first round, but maybe, just maybe it was a sign that luck, if not Fate, was on her side.
'...Shortly the next two cards are turned, the creature's six beating the girl's three....The creature grins and his smile chills the girl; the score is now tied...'
The creature's smile made obvious his pleasure at his success, but it was not a happy smile; it was haughty, taunting, and it chilled Isis to the bone.
'...The next cards turned...are a seven and a six, the creature's win....Now the girl is worried; she has to win the next round just to make the game go to the face round. If the creature wins or ties the next round the girl has lost the game and the very world is the prize she must give up; the creature's haughty smile and cold eyes are easily read and it is plain to see that he feels victory is within easy reach...'
Chewing her bottom lip nervously Isis eyed the turned cards. Two wins for the creature and only one for her. Her only and final hopes lie with the remaining unturned cards. For her to win, both of her remaining cards must be higher than the two that remained face down in front of the creature. It was obvious that the creature shared none of Isis's concerns-- it seemed to him that his luck far outweighed his opponent's.
'The girl turns her fourth card first....And it is a five. The chances are in the creature's favor and his smile broadens. He turns over his card...a two. The game goes into overtime....'
It was hard to believe the mixture of emotions that Isis faced-- relief at her small win, apprehension for the final turn to come, fear for the outcome...Hope, desire, the need for a victory....
''Sudden death,' the creature grins evilly as he speaks in an icy voice, 'my favorite part of the game.' He turns his face card, revealing a king....The only card that will beat it is a joker and the odds are strongly against the girl having pulled a joker from the faces; a tie is slightly more likely but the girl does not want a tie for her chances in settling the dispute in her favor any other way are slim indeed. The fate of the world lies on the turn of a card. She hesitates...'
Isis paused with her hand above her final card.
'...Sometimes...the ends of stories such as this are better left unknown...'
Isis closed her eyes. She didn't want to know the ending.
Without looking she turned the final card. Her heart pounded against her ribs and she waited....
Across the table a chair scraped the floor. Footsteps were quickly lost to the sounds of the tavern. Isis didn't dare open her eyes. Beside her she could hear Valdir speaking. Had she...
"...won!" Valdir finished as he enthusiastically wrapped his arms around Isis. "You won!"
Surprised Isis opened her eyes, her vision immediately coming to rest on the card that was still clasped tightly in her hand. The joker. The dark-haired, close-eyed, cheerfully grinning joker, juggling four balls the colors of the elements...The Ancient. "Thank the Ancients," Isis uttered, but her overwhelming relief suddenly turned to apprehension as Alerik suddenly came into view, his hand grabbing for the Demon Star that lay on the table where Valdir had placed it.
Alerik lifted the gem, turning his gaze to Isis and Valdir, sensing their obvious dread. "Do not worry," he stated simply. "It will find a safe place to rest."
Slowly Isis nodded, giving her consent even though she knew that had she opposed, Alerik would not have heeded her. Even as she and Valdir watched the demon disappeared from their sight, probably for good. Valdir paused, then renewed his grip on Isis in a tight hug. "So," he questioned cheerily, "where do we go from here?"

Finito

A/N: Yay! It's finally DONE! But, there's one more story yet to go....and I promise the return of both Keena and Jabez, as well as some of the others we've already met, and a few new characters as well. ^__^ Look for MORTAL GAMES as the finale of the series...but note that it's as of yet unfinished, so updates MAY NOT be quite as regular as the previous stories, which were all complete before posting. ^^;