Far away, somewhere else, footsteps fell on the worn stones inside the castle. A skeletal hand reached out and pushed open a door.
The cot was empty.
The visitor stepped inside the room. The brass side table was scattered with cogwheels, tiny bronze things that spilt off its surface and onto the floor. The visitor bent to pick up a handful, running them through his fingers.
"A cheap trick."
No cheaper than your magic shows.
The man smiled coldly. "So you are here."
I am always here. I am everywhere. Six thousand miles away, an alligator severed an ungulates spinal cord. I was there. Five meters from where you stand, a skink is stalking moth. I am there too.
"Wherever there is death."
Stupid. There is always death. What you call life is merely a synonym for dying. Even as you are talking, you are aging, and as you age, death moves closer.
The wizard flinched, an involuntary twitch of a muscle at the corner of his eye. Laugher filled the room.
But that is why you are here. You want to escape death.
"Yes."
Why? It doesn't hurt a bit, or so I am told.
His face contorted into a mask of hatred. "So you are told," he spat. "You will never die. Why should I? Why should I have to give up my life in the end, trading power for a coffin and the worms?" He paused, trying to regain his composure. "Immortality is what magic cannot give me. Even the Philosopher's Stone does not grant it. It prolongs life, yes, but it does not make you immortal." A shudder of impotent longing wracked his body.
You do not know what you have asked for.
"I do."
You only think you do.
His fist crashed down on the side table, sending the cogs flying. "I will be the judge of that!"
There was a silence. The wizard thought he could hear the sound of a ticking clock, and shuddered.
"Time," he muttered to himself. "We are wasting time."
Time is never wasted. Merely unwisely used.
"Will you give me what I ask for or not?"
I will. Exactly what you ask for.
He paused, his hand on the door handle. "And no tricks." It wasn't a question.
What do you think I am, a two-bit conjurer? I play no tricks, human. Your kind is the one that plays tricks.
He still did not move. "I don't trust you."
No one can.