The room was heavy with the warmth of embers and the humid weight of shared breath. The scent of cheap rose oil and acrid sweat hung in the damp air. Candlelight flickered across the glistening skin of the woman on the bed Alisa, or at least, the name she had lent him for the night. Her moans, once rhythmic and melodic, were severed mid-air.
It was not Greywind who silenced her, but a whisper that sliced through his consciousness. The voice did not enter through his ears; it manifested within the very bone of his skull, cold and piercing as a needle of ice.
"Look at her, Greywind... so frail, so utterly subservient to the cravings of her own flesh. She would bow to any authority that offers a coin or a moment"s pleasure. Like soft clay. Like all of them."
Jannis, the demon bound to his soul, was intruding. Invisible to the eye, her presence nevertheless saturated the corners of the room, a psychic pressure so immense the candle flames shuddered in her wake. Jannis bore the form of a fiendish maiden, her skin a pale, bruised violet and her horns carved from midnight stone.
"Greywind could possess more than just her shell. Greywind could claim her soul. Is that not what they offer? But Greywind could take it... with such elegance."
Without thought, a snarl erupted from his throat, his voice harsher than he had intended. "Silence, demon!"
Alisa recoiled violently. Her body went rigid, her eyes once glazed with passion now wide with a raw, jagged terror. She hauled the threadbare quilt to her chin, scrambling toward the far edge of the bed. "W-what? Who...? I... I didn"t "
"Behold. The primal reaction. Fear. She believes your threat was meant for her. Humans and their perceptions... so agonizingly shallow." Jannis"s whisper returned, sounding almost amused.
Greywind realized his folly instantly. None could see or hear Jannis but him. In Alisa"s eyes, Greywind had just snarled at the empty air and branded her a "demon." In this world, such an outburst was the mark of madness or something far more malevolent.
"Peace. Not... not you, darling," Greywind stammered, attempting to soften his tone, though it remained jagged with residue frustration. "I... I was speaking to something else. Voices in my head. I forgot my draught."
Alisa was not comforted. She stared at him as one might watch a viper that had suddenly begun to speak. "Voices...?" Her breath came in shallow, frantic hitches. "Are you... are you a sorcerer?"
Her eyes darted toward the door, measuring the distance. Outside, the muffled echoes of laughter and ribald music persisted, but within these four walls, the tension was a physical weight. Greywind could feel Jannis"s eldritch energy pulsing beneath his skin; the heat of an Eldritch Blast simmered at his fingertips, ready to ignite.
But force was not the remedy. Taking a long, shuddering breath, Greywind suppressed the chaotic tide Jannis had unleashed. He looked at Alisa, huddling at the bed"s edge like a frightened kitten.
"Forgive me, love," he said, his voice now deliberate, laced with a practiced, weary tenderness. "I did not mean to frighten you. I... I have recently returned from the Eastern Marches. The war against the goblin hordes. Sometimes... the screams and the clash of steel still ring in here." He touched his temple, his expression a mask of haunted exhaustion. "Sometimes the past and present bleed together. You shouldn"t have to see me like this."
He extended a hand slowly not to touch, but as a gesture of peace. "I only sought an escape. Like most who come here. Not to bring terror."
In the theatre of his mind, Jannis"s psychic grip slackened, replaced by a cold curiosity. "A fine deception. Using the trauma of war as a shield. But she will still fear you, Greywind. A different fear... not of madness, but of the invisible scars you carry. That is almost more delectable."
The candle flickered again. Shadows danced upon the walls as if a hidden form moved between them. Alisa searched his face with her dark eyes. The pure terror began to distill into a volatile mix of pity and sharp-eyed vigilance.
"War..." she murmured, her voice rasping. "You... you are a veteran? I had a brother who never returned from the Northern Front." She did not move forward, but she stopped retreating. "But... that "voice." It sounded so real. You called out "demon.""
She glanced around the room, shivering. "Strange men find their way here... but none with "voices" like yours."
Opportunity flickered. Her fear was becoming a bridge to curiosity, or perhaps a survival instinct if she could understand the danger, she might survive it.
"It seems the hour has come to take this woman"s life, Greywind," Jannis purred, her spectral fingers brushing Greywind"s chin. "You have fed me nothing but the cheap, watery souls of goblins. Once in a while, I crave the richness of a human life... don"t I, darling?"
The psychic pressure tightened like a frozen noose around Greywind"s neck. The "touch" on his chin was an illusory sensation that made his jaw ache.
"Ah, Greywind... your little lie could be the gateway to something much more... substantial. A goblin"s soul is bland, like stagnant water. But a human... there is a complexity of flavor. The fear, the hope, the very lust you felt just moments ago. I wish to taste it. And you, my love, shall provide it. Now."
It was no longer a request; it was a demand that vibrated through his marrow. Greywind felt his Pact throb with heat, like a contract being branded anew. He looked at Alisa. The pity and fear in her eyes were the perfect seasoning for a sacrifice. Jannis was right it was tempting.
"Err... Alisa, was it?" Greywind choked out, his voice nearly failing under Jannis"s suffocating presence. "Easy now. Don"t dwell on it. Let us continue. Where were we? It would be a waste to stop now, considering I paid you in advance."
Greywind forced a smile, but it was a brittle, skeletal thing. This was no longer a mere ruse to escape; it had become a Performance playing the role of a client desperate for normalcy, while a darker intent swirled within to appease his patron.
Alisa watched him with a searching gaze. Slowly, she loosened her grip on the quilt, though she remained tense. "Are you... are you sure you are well?" she asked. "The voice... is it gone?"
She peered into his eyes, looking for the tell-tale glint of insanity. In a world of magic and devils, the unknown was the ultimate predator.
"Yes, it"s gone," he said, his voice low and raspy with a very real exhaustion. He reached out again, this time with a simulated confidence. "Now there is only you, and me, and the silence I"ve paid for."
Alisa looked into his eyes. In this near-perfect Performance, she saw not the shadow of Jannis, but a "wounded soul." Her instincts the hardened intuition of a woman in her trade took over. The wariness in her eyes melted into a grim decision. She exhaled softly and let the quilt fall.
"Very well," she whispered, as if to herself. "But... be gentle, yes?"
The act resumed. Touch, breath, the warmth of skin. Alisa tried; she attempted to offer the comfort she believed he lacked. Yet, an invisible chasm remained. Her fear had merely transformed into a cautious, distant mercy.
While his body was engaged, Greywind"s mind was elsewhere. He wanted only for the clock to run out to flee this room, the pressure of Jannis, and the suffocating atmosphere of his own making.
"Finishing so soon?" Jannis hissed in his mind, her voice flat as cracking ice. "You choose to pretend I am not here? To squander the momentum of that "extraordinary" Performance for... this?"
The sensation at his chin shifted from a touch to a frigid, phantom grip that made his teeth grind. The candles in the room died instantly, plunging them into the pale, sickly glow of moonlight filtering through a narrow window. Alisa let out a sharp cry, her body turning to stone beneath him.
"I am not pleased, Greywind."
In the gloom, Greywind saw Alisa"s eyes bulge, but she wasn"t looking at him. She was staring over his shoulder at something unspeakable. Her mouth hung open for a scream that died as a rattling gasp in her throat.
"You ignore me for the sake of this trivial flesh? Let us give her something truly worthy of her terror. And you... you will remember for whom you toil."
A wave of malevolence surged from Jannis. She did not intend to kill Alisa that was too simple, too merciful for her spite. She sought to warp this moment into a living nightmare.
Greywind summoned every ounce of his will, not to fight, but to negotiate. Within the sanctum of his mind, his thoughts raced like a merchant in a black market.
"Fine! There is a mission to hunt cultists after this. We will find plenty of low-lives there. Plenty. But not this one, understood? And stop hovering. Wait for me at the front door."
There was a piercing psychic silence. The weight on his jaw slowly ebbed. Then came Jannis"s voice, a sibilant hiss of disappointment laced with intrigue.
"Cultists... yes, souls already stained by fanaticism are quite succulent. Very well. Two minutes. Surely you only need two minutes to conclude this... "trivial business"? I shall wait outside."
The pressure vanished entirely. The horror evaporated, leaving only a lingering chill. The candles remained dark. Alisa trembled, her breath coming in jagged bursts. "W-who were you talking to? What happened?"
"Nothing," he said, his voice now flat and utilitarian. The mask of the wounded veteran was gone. There was only the singular goal: to finish. "Let"s get this over with."
What followed was not intimacy. It was a mechanical, aggressive physical completion, driven by a terrifying deadline. Alisa remained motionless, paralyzed by shock rather than desire, allowing herself to be moved like a doll. Greywind ignored her entirely, focused only on the biological resolution of a paid transaction.
Exactly as commanded within two minutes it was done. Greywind pulled away, retrieving his clothes with swift, clinical efficiency. Alisa lay silent, staring at the dark ceiling with glazed eyes. She didn"t even cry; she was simply hollowed out by the rapid succession of traumas.
Without a word, Greywind tossed a heavy pouch of coins two or three extra gold pieces onto the bed. He turned and threw open the door.
As he stepped into the corridor lit by flickering oil lamps, the intrusion was immediate. Jannis"s voice erupted in his head, booming with mockery.
"TWO MINUTES? I WAS JESTING, GREYWIND! HAHAHA!" Her laughter was like a sledgehammer against his skull. "You actually did it! Scurrying like a beaten cur! Oh, that was... truly entertaining. I suppose I"ve had my amusement for the night, even without a soul."
The laughter dissolved into a piercing giggle. "Do not forget your promise. Cultists. Many of them. I shall be counting."
The hallway of the Golden Blossom felt jarringly bright and loud. The music and clinking glasses from below seemed vulgar and distant. A servant passing by with a tray cast a suspicious glance at his hurried exit.
The debt was paid for now, but the interest was mounting. And in Room 5, Alisa would harbor a story she might never fully tell or perhaps, one she would tell to the wrong people.
"Let us go, Grey," Jannis sighed in his mind. "Though you are lackluster in the bedchamber, at least prove you can still offer me a few lives."
Greywind remained silent for a moment before retorting inwardly, "I was merely agitated. It was your doing. Now I have to pay extra hush-money, or my reputation is forfeit."
Jannis chuckled, her voice dripping with genuine condescension. "Ah, so now it is my fault? How sweet. You chose to stop pretending and "finish" like a common thresher. Extra money? Reputation? You chose this place, and you lost your nerve. Do not blame me for your tawdry anxieties."
The psychic pressure returned, but this time as a sharp, teasing poke. "But I will overlook your "performance" issues... provided the next offering is impressive. The souls of cultists, ripe with hatred... that will wash away this embarrassment. Now, move. The scent of your guilt is beginning to bore me."
Greywind stood in the corridor, a stranger amidst the revelry just a few steps away. He could go down to the bar, but the servant"s gaze and the potential whispers from Alisa"s room made the air feel thin.