All around him, the ocean snarled and writhed, its black waves slamming ruthlessly against the shore. He stood at the edge of the sea, where the ashen sand of the beach met the cold, black edge of the water. Huge, towering waves crested with grey froth burst and swelled further out into the ocean, their foam resembling pale, skeletal fingers that groped hopelessly for warm flesh.
The figure stood motionless on the shore. Not with the flicker of a muscle did he move from his position, even as the billowing waves surged forward and lapped against his feet, sending rippling surges of cold throughout his legs. Curtains of mist hung in shrouds over him, slithering across his cloaked form. He felt a deep, numbing cold as the tendrils of mist caressed him.
A particularly large wave slammed into the surf, spraying him with tiny particles of darkness. As the ice bit into his face, he raised a hand. His thick, clawed fingers pointed out toward the water.
A bright ball of orange flame manifested in his hand and leaped from his pale fingers. The light cast by the fireball was immediately swallowed by the darkness, as though it was a sentient being and light was its most coveted delicacy. The fireball travelled out into the ocean, sending two massive jets of water out on either side of it as it passed through the cresting waves and disappeared into the hazy mist, where the ocean met the monochrome sky in a flat, dreadful line.
Far out into sea, a whirlpool began to form.
The figure grinned savagely as geysers of water began to rip upward from the ocean, blasting towards the sky with vicious intent. All around him in the blackness, shapes began to emerge from the water: pale, vaguely humanoid shapes, some hunched over with equipment on their backs. Dark, slanted eyes reminiscent of coals gleamed out from the darkness.
"A stranger... a stranger..."
Low, raspy voices began to rise from the creatures as they began to glide across the waves toward him. As they drew closer, he realized the creatures appeared to have no substance – instead of defined features, they appeared to be composed of a murky, gloomy darkness, which shifted and simmered in the greyish light.
"Stranger... stranger..."
Their fingers reached out to him. Further out on the ocean, a thick, twisted shape resembling a serpent reared up and breached the waves.
"Stranger... stranger..."
They were almost upon him. Their huge, glowing eyes floated closer in the mist, fixated upon him, yearning for him. They slithered ever closer, a seething mass.
"Stranger... stranger..."
They flowed around him like water, obstructing his view of all else. Dark shapes pressed against him on all sides. He smiled.
Their fingers closed tightly around his arm.
All at once, there was a bright flash of fiery gold light, and the crowd of creatures crumpled to the sand around him, dead. A split second later they all dissolved into infinitesimal specks of darkness. The creatures at the edge of the shore that had not reached him yet jerked back in surprise. He turned to look at them, and raised his hand.
Another burst of fire ripped through the shroud of darkness. It flowed across the dark creatures in a tide, obliterating them.
Now harsh, panicked, croaky voices were rising all around him. Several of the creatures leaned over, aiming something on their backs at him. Their voices chorused simultaneously:
"Striking Fish!"
A legion of harpoons shot towards him, their sharp, deadly points speeding towards his face. The figure raised a hand, and each incoming harpoon dissolved harmlessly into thin air as they neared him.
The fish creatures began to glide backward, croaking in fright. They turned away and began to swim frantically out into the dark ocean.
The figure laughed cruelly. "Evil Inferno!" he roared, and a mammoth stream of fire leapt from his hands and consumed the fleeing creatures. The sea swirled and churned as his flames danced across its surface, and when the waves died down, not a single living creature could be seen atop the waves.
The figure lowered his hands and stared out at the ocean. In the distance, the sea began to whirl and curve as the great whirlpool he had glimpsed earlier grew larger. Foamy grey waves leapt into the air as a great black hole appeared in the water.
As he watched, a hulking black shape began to rise from the depths of the whirlpool.
The figure stood motionless as the black shape rose, taking on shape and form through the mist: thick, waving tentacles, vast leathery wings, a bulging head. The dark beast reared back in all its sickening glory, letting out a roar that seemed to split the sky in two.
On the beach, the figure stood coldly in place, unaffected by the demonic roar. He glared contemptuously at the huge black mass before him, his lip curling beneath the shadow of his hood as it swirled and roared.
The creature began to crawl forward through the waves, its many limbs ploughing deeply into the surface of the water. The figure looked up as it gradually drew closer, finally coming to a halt before him.
Water dripped off the creature's shimmery black skin in rivulets. It appeared to be made of the same black substance as the creatures that had attacked him. It leaned forward, its massive eyes burning red, larger than car tires. At full size, it was larger than a skyscraper.
The figure grinned.
The massive black creature lowered its head until it was level with the figure. Thick tendrils of saliva dripped from its dagger like teeth, which gleamed of black ivory in the mist. It opened its mouth, and a pattern of strange noises originated within its deep throat: a burst of echoing clicks and sonic whispers. The guttural noise of its throat somewhat muffled the sound, but the figure understood the creature perfectly.
What are you?
The figure smiled and reared backward. His cloak suddenly ripped apart at the back as broad wings burst from beneath his shadowy cloak. Flaring once, twice, he was borne into the air and hovered before the great beast, smiling.
"I am the darkness in which all life dies," Daemon uttered, staring into the flaming depths of the beast's eyes. It snarled once, more of the strange sonar-like noises coming from its throat.
Why have you come?
"I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse," Daemon said, grinning savagely as the creature threw back its head and roared into the sky. That was when the moon rose – black.