This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/forwritingprompts80 on 2024-11-02 04:08:09+00:00.
Orist, the director of arcane studies at Surrerra, rubbed his eyes as he looked up. He had been trying to figure out what to do and how to report their new findings on dragon fire. It was an amazing breakthrough on dragon fire and exactly how it worked. The main issue was they made this breakthrough because one of the researchers had brought in a fully grown dragon to the lab, which then promptly burnt down 3 buildings. “Someone brought in a black dog and I need to see this dog?”
Torun shifted uneasily from side to side, wishing he could be almost anywhere. Torun was a student helper for the facility management team and did not want the attention of his boss’s boss’s boss’s boss or to deal with the occult. “They have been saying it’s an omen of death. They, uh, the other researchers have said it is leaking death energy.”
Orist elven ears perked up at this, “So an omen of death wandered onto the campus.”
“Uh, no sir. Sam, one of the researchers in the Occult Department brought it in.”
Orist paused while remembering the dragon incident he was still working on. “Okay. Lead me to Sam and the death dog.”
Torun nervously nodded. Earlier, he had been hoping to be almost anywhere else, but next to that dog was not on the list of places he wanted to be.
Torun and Orist stepped into the Occult research lab and they both flinched when they saw what appeared to be a black void with two arms disappearing. A slightly closer look revealed that it was just pitch-black fur with an eerie haze slowly flowing out of it. As they made out its general shape it quickly became this was a dog or closer to a wolf in size with glowing red eyes. It would have all been a lot more disturbing if the dog wasn’t lying on its back with its mouth open and tail wagging as two human researchers rubbed its tummy.
The dog locked eyes with them and for a brief second, they got the feeling that death was leaning over their shoulder. “That’s Sam,” Torun said as he moved so Orist was between him and the dog.
Sam looked up and smiled at Orist, “Director, what brings you here?”
“The omen of death did.”
“Oh, don’t worry. We brought him here. He’s not here for anyone in particular,” Sam said while scratching the tummy of a very relaxed omen of death.
“Yes, we heard that. Our concern is more the risk he brings.”
“He is very well-behaved. Even if he is a bit larger than most dogs,” Sam paused before realizing, “and the death energy is safe. We’ve already tested staying with him for an extended time. They live off death energy, so the haze is more like sweat or exhaled air. It’s harmless in these quantities.”
Orist took a second to realize what had been said, “You tested the haze for an extended time? How long have you had this omen of death?”
Sam avoided eye contact, “Uhh, about 2 weeks, but we’ve been interacting with them for about 3 months now. We were just preparing to deliver our report on it.”
Orist sighed, “We’ll get to that later. I don’t think you are realizing the severity of bringing an omen of death to this university.”
The other researcher spoke for the first time, “Well, uh Director, they don’t actually bring death with them.”
“And who are you?” Orist asked
“Ah, this is Deacon. He was going to help me with some of the more precise measurements, though his main research is on grim reapers”
“Okay, and you are saying these omens of death don’t bring death?”
“No, it’s actually a misconception we have been doing our best to dispel. We have seen them show up and leave without anything dying. We even managed to create an experiment where the death was unpredictable, and they showed up equally if the death happened or it didn’t happen. We think they have a way to sense the possibility of death, but we haven’t been able to figure out how they do it. We are hoping this research could help give advanced warnings.” Deacon babbled as Sam nodded in agreement.
“This is still quite concerning. Would you invite a grim reaper to the school?
Sam’s eyes widened as his head snapped over to look at Deacon. Deacon immediately looked away from both of them.
“You didn’t…” Orist started but was cut short by a chill. It was the kind of chill that permeated through your whole being and no amount of warmth would ever get rid of it. Before he had felt like death was looking over his shoulder, but that was child’s play compared to this. This did not have to lean over your shoulder as you would come to it. All things came to it in the end, and it was not something you wanted to be close to. He swallowed deeply and didn’t dare to even look in its direction while Torun tried to slip even further behind Orist.
“Ah, v̴̫̮͖̺̥̜̯̹̣̘̊ͣ͌̒̈́̌̈ͫ́ͭ̉̋ͥ͗ͮ̉̚͘V̵̶̴̧̳͙̣͉̞͙͂͐̿̿ͦ̓͑̕̚͝z̶̧̳͔͍͙̿͑̈́̋ͩͨ̇̄͟͟x̶̥̱͍̜̤͍̜̰͔̦͕̮̰̯̼̼͓̑̽̍̏ͭ̓͛ͩ̿ͣ͂̂̂̉͋͐͜ͅͅz̥̏͆ͣͨ̏ś̵̴̢̰̜̾͌̏̾ͪ͊̈́͆̓ͧ̚͟͡i̵̯͈ͧͬͣ̈́ͨ̂̓͘͝͝e̶̼̝̬̜ͫͤ͋̉̓͒ͯͧͪ̊, you made it here,” Deacon said casually while making noises they didn’t even know vocal cords could. The being in the corner replied, but listening to its sounds was horrifying enough, much less trying to comprehend them.
“Yes, it is a v̴̫̮͖̺̥̜̯̹̣̘̊ͣ͌̒̈́̌̈ͫ́ͭ̉̋ͥ͗ͮ̉̚͘V̵̶̴̧̳͙̣͉̞͙͂͐̿̿ͦ̓͑̕̚͝z̶̧̳͔͍͙̿͑̈́̋ͩͨ̇̄͟͟z̥̏͆ͣͨ̏ś̵̴̢̰̜̾͌̏̾ͪ͊̈́͆̓ͧ̚͟͡i̵̯͈ͧͬͣ̈́ͨ̂̓͘͝͝e̶̼̝̬̜ͫͤ͋̉̓͒ͯͧͪ̊. I didn’t know you were familiar with them, but I guess you must cross path pretty often.” The dog had sat up and was now doing its best to look proper and majestic.
The figure moved toward the dog and extended one of its bony hands toward the ground. A dense black fog flowed from its hand and formed into a sphere.
“Is that pure and condensed death energy?” Sam said as he reached towards it. Deacon tried to stop him, but it was too late. As soon as his fingers got close the skin and flesh aged, decayed, and then dissolved away leaving only bones. Sam held up his three new bony fingers and slowly wiggled them, studying their every movement.
“I can fix that,” Deacon said as he moved closer and started chanting. “Wait! Let’s do it outside so we don’t accidentally hit these 2 with holy light.” Sam said.
“Ah, good call,” Deacon said as they both slipped outside the lab. Inside the lab, Orist and Torun just stood awkwardly. The grim reaper stood there coldly, while the dog frantically wagged his tail as he munched on the sphere that had just taken three of Sam’s fingers.
“May I leave, sir?” Torun whimpered out, having not looked up from the ground since the grim reaper appeared in the room.
Orist looked at him with sympathy, “You can wait in the hall. I’ll need to talk to you after this.” Torun just nodded and slipped out the door into the hallways.
As Torun slipped out of the door, Deacon and Sam strode back in. “All healed up,” Sam said as showed off his hand with all the fingers now properly covered in skin and flesh.
“From now on, you should report to us before you bring in anything. Some of these beings are highly influential on the natural world,” Orist said as he looked at the grim reaper and gave him a polite bow. “We want to be able to properly prepare to avoid any danger AND,” Orist cut them off before they could argue the beings weren’t dangerous, “avoid any unnecessary panic.”
Deacon and Sam looked at each other before turning back to Orist, “So we can continue our research?”
“Yes, and be sure to prepare those reports,” Orist said as he left the room. He stepped into the hall and took a few deep breaths as the warmth crept back in. After a moment, he turned to Torun, “They may bring some more troublesome beings, but we aren’t expecting you to take care of them. Just make sure everyone else in the area is informed. If necessary, we will get a specialist to come help with the work.”
“So there will be more of…those?” Torun asked.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Why do you let them do this stuff?” Torun asked before adding on, “I don’t mean Sam and Deacon, but humans in particular. I’ve heard of the dragon incident and a few rumors of events that almost went as bad.”
“The humans might be stupid,” Orist began before correcting himself, “No, not stupid. Many of them can be quite brilliant, but stupidly curious. Just incredibly stupidly curious.” Orist paused as he remembered a great deal of headaches they had brought about. “But while they are so very stupidly curious, they make incredible breakthroughs. They are open-minded and do not want to cause harm. Their curiosity just blinds their judgment. I think the research of Sam and Deacon could help many and we need to make sure it doesn’t cause harm to many in the meantime.”