Bending Time

A dim light appeared at the fringes of my eyesight, and a shadow flickered through them. I turned briefly into the shadows, my heart was pounding. I gripped my sword quite tightly, feeling its magic coursing down through my arms, bathing me in its power, giving me calm, giving me strength. I switched the sword to my right hand, and muttered a word of power under my breath, causing my left hand to pulse with a cold, blue aura.

A noise behind me almost caused my heart to stop, but I acted so as not to hear it. I wanted the creature to think I was unprepared for it. It had killed townsfolk for the past week, and I was the only one with the power to take it down. I pulled in more power, extending my senses till I found it. Apparently it sensed my magical probe, launching itself from the shadows at my unprotected back.

Heh, or so it thought. In a flash, a powerful aura exploded from my body, stopping the demons approach, slamming it into the wall. I grinned, turning around, my power flickering around my body, visible, powerful, sparks and lightning literally exploding around me.

The demons eyes were wide with fear, it recognized me. It knew who I was. Snarling, it opened it mouth and the sound that issued forth was of such noise and magnitude that it could only be.

Could only be...

Damn, the trash pickup. I rushed out the door, grabbing for the trash on the way out, just in time to see the truck pull away.

Again.

A low laughing voice came across the balcony to me. "Missed it again son?"

Sighing, I turned to my elderly neighbor, forced a smile, and just nodded my head. "You alright boy? You ain't one of them druggies or gangers or something are ya?"

Inwardly I cringed. One, I don't like to be called a boy, two, I can't stand to listen to old people talk to me like this. Outwardly I smiled. "No, I was just asleep again, lost track of time." "Long night at work again".

I turned to go back in my apartment, waving at the old man as I walked through the door. I paused, looking around, noticing that the apartment looked smaller and smaller every time I saw it. Of course, it could have something to do with the encroachment of clothes and food boxes leading from the wall to the center of the floor.

I sat back down in my chair, tried to re-clear my thoughts and revisit the demon in the cave, when a light knock echoed through my apartment.

Squinting my face up in a frown, I stumbled through the clutter to the front door. Opening it there was an old frail man, darkly tanned skin, wrinkled, with the appearance of old leather. His hair was wispy and fell to the mid of his back, but his eyes were piercing blue.

He nodded at me and moved into the room, paying less then a glance at the mess on the floor. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but he simply raised his hand, silencing me with a gesture. It wasn't that I couldn't talk, it was that some primal instinct warned me if I did speak, I would not be able to for long.

The old man walked around, moving with ease through my clutter, while I simply stood there with my hands open, my mouth open, and just staring.

He turned and looked at me, looked into me, and spoke very quietly, but with absolute authority. "Tell me about it. What did it look like, and where it was."
Dumbfounded, I just stared. "What?" I mumbled out to him "Are you talking about?"

His eyes flashed, his brow furrowed with a storm of rage.

"The demon you insipid child, the demon!"

I backed away towards the door, my heart thumping, my mind racing.

My bowels releasing...