Arduin opened his eyes, and things were different. The cell was gone, the keeper was gone, the pain was gone. It was like he had blinked and the world had changed around him. Even he had changed. He wasn’t on the floor, but in a simple wooden chair, a nice one at that. It even had a cushion made of a soft fabric that he had never felt before.

He looked around but there wasn’t much to see. It was just white, empty space, and looked like it continued on forever. There wasn’t even a discernable floor. Everything seemed to just float in place, although his feet seemed to find solid ground.

“Arduin Draxus”

He stopped gazing at the endless horizon, turning his head to the voice that interrupted him. In front of his own chair, was an elegant dark-wood desk that he could swear wasn’t there a second ago. It was carved in intricate detail with what appeared to be scenes of battles, inlaid with gold. It was probably the most expensive thing he had ever seen. Sitting behind the desk, in a much more luxurious chair than his own, was a man with a sharp face who appeared to be in his late thirties wearing dark gray and black clothing that looked like it belonged to a commoner, but something was off. He looked like a king in pauper’s clothing. Everything from the scenery around him to the way he held himself in his chair appeared to conflict with his image. Even his head of black hair and beard were well kept.

Their eyes met, but Arduin was still surprised at his surroundings, much less his full name being spoken, to pick up that the man in front of him was waiting for a response. When a few moments passed and no one had spoken, the mystery man sighed and held out his hand on the desk. A stock of stark-white papers appeared in a puff of white smoke and he began flipping through the documents like he had seen them many times before.

“Let’s see… Arduin Draxus, son of a traveling merchant and a prostitute, left at a dreadful orphanage until running away at the age of fifteen, hopefully you still remember something?”

Some of the words he heard finally broke Arduin out of his stupor.

“Who… who did you say my parents are… and... where am I?” Although his thoughts were racing, he found himself asking calmly.

“Phew! Your memories are still intact! I thought for a second there you were… the point is you remember. And as far as where you are, I would call it something akin to limbo. A special little space between the mortal world and everything else, like a buffer. I just caught you as you were passing through just then.”

The memories of what had happened only a few minutes ago resurfaced in his mind, and he instinctively put his hand on his shoulder and looked down at his leg, testing the movement and waiting for the pain, but nothing happened.

“I guess I’m dead then?” Again, his words showed no signs of panic, nor anger, only resignation as his eyes looked to his hands in his lap as if inspecting them.

“Well… that really depends on how you answer my proposition, but technically right now you are somewhere in-between life and death, and may I say, you seem to be taking it very well.” A small nervous smile found it’s way to the man’s face.

“What kinda proposition?” He questioned, going through the latest unbelievable sentence he had heard. He didn’t want to believe any of it, but he had no other way of making sense of what he was seeing, so he figured he would roll with it. All he could really do now was listen.

“Oh, we’ll talk about that in just a second, but before that, allow me to introduce myself!” The man dropped the papers he was holding, and they disappeared in smoke as they fell. “I…” he spread his arms in a rather dramatic display, “am Fairen, the god of shadows, illusions, and thieves. A god of the night.” He moved one of his arms to gesture toward Arduin. “And I would like you, Arduin Draxus, to be my champion in the world.” Fairen moved his arms back to his side, looking satisfied with his introduction.

“… BWAHAHA” Arduin burst into laughter at the end, and Fairen’s face twisted in surprise at the unexpected reaction. “So this is the universe’s last little trick on me? This is the best it could do? You do realize that I’m already dead, don’t you? It’s a little bit late to be some champion!” He laid back in his chair, just staring up at the white eternity while his laugh finally died away.

“I did say that your state of being could change didn’t I? Don’t go hysterical on me… I haven’t even gotten to the deal yet…” His bravado now all but a memory, Fairen’s face contorted to an expression of nervous worry as his voice carried off.

“No! please continue! I can’t wait to hear what else you can promise!” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Okay! I get it! You’re agitated. Death can do that. Anyway, the deal is simple, you become my champion, and I return you to life to fulfill your part of the bargain. The contract lasts until you die or I end the deal. Everything you accomplish will be in my name, and for that you will gain a portion of my power to do with as you see fit. I’ll even give one of my familiars to you as an aide and weapon. Sounds pretty good, right?” The god rambled as if he was some greedy merchant trying to sell a fake miracle.

Arduin’s laughter was completely gone now, replaced by a serious look that could kill. He remained silent for a moment longer before replying.

“Why me? I’m sure there are better choices than some kid who got caught. I don’t see your reasoning.”

Fairen was quick to respond, “You may not have noticed, Arduin, but I have kept an eye on you for a very long time. You have amazing potential in your skills, craft, and magic. You might even be a prodigy, you just haven’t been able to realize any of that yet. I think we can work together on this. Besides, that whole business just now with those brutes reeks of divine intervention. Probably Azuel deciding to sabotage my efforts.

Arduin raised his eyebrows in questioning, and Fairen decided to continue, thinking about how much he should tell.

“Like I just said, I, Fairen, am a god of night. There are the gods of day, and the gods of night, and these two factions represent the forces of good and evil, order and chaos, the light and the dark, but a lot of this is up to interpretation. It’s a lot more gray than you think. Uh, anyway, back to the topic, Azuel is a god of day, representing justice and clarity.” Fairen’s face sunk into annoyance at the mention, his voice getting a little bit quieter, “He’s a bit of a bastard in my opinion, and my counterpart in the day. Every god has one on the other side, and he’s mine. As the mortal world shifts the balance between the forces of day and night, the power and influence shifts between the two gods, sometimes being balanced, but most of the time not. Azuel has slowly been gaining the upper hand these last few hundred years, and that’s where you come in. As a champion of night, your actions will have a greater impact on the balance. I’m hoping this little agreement will be greatly beneficial to both of us.”

Fairen came back to his smile, and looked at Arduin as if expecting him to jump at the offer any second now, but Arduin wasn’t satisfied.

Arduin sat in silence as the explanation was given, his eyes never coming off of Fairen’s, as if he was trying to decipher the lie in the self-proclaimed god’s words, but found none.

“What’s the catch?” He finally replied simply. Arduin had heard plenty of good deals coming from people that looked like they could keep them, but there was always a catch that made the whole thing more trouble than it was worth. No matter the circumstance, he had come to realize that there is no such thing as the perfect deal.

Fairen flinched at the question, and began to talk again, his voice hesitant. “I, um, am required to tell you that there is always a risk to take for power. What I can offer you is unstable and hard to control in nature. Failing to master it will result in the power consuming the user, corrupting their mind, body, and soul. I don’t think you want to know what that’s like, but trust me, it isn’t pleasant. I know, that sounds bad, but my familiar should be able to help you shoulder the burden while you learn to control it, so no worries, right? What do you think?”

Fairen sounded like this little caveat wasn’t a problem at all, and Arduin began to contemplate the implications of the deal presented. It only took him a few seconds.

“I refuse.”

Fairen’s smile twitched, but he quickly came back under control.

“May I have your reasoning?”

Arduin replied seriously once again. “While what you have offered is tempting, I don’t particularly crave for revenge, and the people I care about don’t need me to survive. Even with the new power, the downside seems to be too great a risk to take. I don’t want to hurt them when I lose control. I’d rather die here.”

Listening to approximately what he expected, Fairen decided to play his trump card.

“I’m sorry to hear that Arduin, but I think you should take a look at this before you make a final decision.”

Fairen pulled open a drawer in top of the ornate desk, and pulled out a bright orb of light about the size of a fist depicting a small group of white-armored men and women walking through the streets of the capital, armed for combat with an assortment of swords and spears.

“This,” Fairen continued, “is a Sarz Empire peacekeeper squad on its way to eradicate a criminal nest in the lowest district of the capital, using an old warehouse as their hideout. This group has been evading them for some time, so they plan to crush every little bug they see to stop them from forming anything close to an organized group. I think you can figure out what I’m talking about here.”

The scene shifted again, and now depicted a run-down looking Thane scolding a group of four. Arduin’s anger flared as he realized what was happening.

“You didn’t” He snarled back at the god.

Fairen shrugged. “I figured I might need some insurance, so I just nudged them in the right direction. What did you expect? I am a god of night after all.” The god finally slumped back into his chair, looking like he had just triumphed.

“Would you like to change your answer?”