Marx leapt to his feet and raced out of his room in a flash, startling Tom at the door so much that it took him a few seconds to remember he had to chase after him. "Master Marx, come back!" He cried out in his echoey voice. Marx called back over his shoulder. "I'm not your Master!" He ran faster, navigating the dim maze of passageways put together in some semblance of a castle without a second thought and burst through the front entrance. He paused for a moment to get his bearings and began madly running through the crowded, crooked, narrow streets like his life depended on it, shoving past monsters of all shapes and sizes. They yelled out in protest but made no move to stop him.

He came to a stop, panting, at the city limits twenty minutes later. It wasn't much of a city, it was more of a collection of small, crooked, ugly buildings with inhabitants even uglier than it was. It didn't have a name, being the only city in the Rift, because didn't need one.

Marx smiled when Hazelmere landed on his shoulder. "Ready for this, girl?" He whispered, shuffling his feet on the warm, rocky ground and accidentally sticking the tip of his toe in a hot vent gushing green fog. He let out a muffled ow and began running, more slowly, towards the narrowest part of the Rift: the part that most of the monsters and corpses climbed up to the surface from. Hazelmere sat daintily on his shoulder and squeaked excitedly the whole way.

About halfway to the outer, outer limits, Marx heard a horrible, raging, caterwauling noise that sounded like rusty metal screaming against more rusty metal. He cringed but kept on running. "Looks like we've been found out, eh?" He grumbled. Hazelmere made the purring noise in the back of her throat that Marx swore normal bats didn't make and stuck her nose into his cheek sweetly.

Marx laughed and ran faster, feeling a rush of adrenaline from breaking the rules. He felt a tugging feeling, meaning the Creature was trying to transport him back, but he focused his power and pushed it away. He heard another scream, even angrier and louder this time. Hazelmere puffed her fur at the sound and glowered at the city, shrieking back in defiance.

The tugging feeling came again, almost impossible to ignore, and Marx stumbled a little. He focused again and managed to push the feeling away, but he knew he couldn't keep it up forever. Already, he was feeling a little drained and he had a long climb ahead of him. He hoped his luck held out and ran the last mile. He stopped, panting, and rested for a few seconds. A crowd of monsters preparing to climb up oogled at him but didn't dare ask him what he was doing there. For all they knew, the Creature wanted him to be there, and interfering would get them punished.

Marx's breathing slowed and he wiped the sweat from his forehead nervously. He looked upwards and immediately regretted it. The surface was so far away, imagining himself climbing there made him feel sick.

He shook his head and began the climb, having to push the tugging feeling away again when he was no more than six feet up. Hazelmere got off his shoulder and began slowly making her way up the side as well to relieve him of her weight. If she got tired, she could just rest on a ledge, but Marx didn't have that opportunity. He needed all the help he could get.

The tugging feeling didn't come for quite awhile after that. Marx was just beginning to enjoy the climb (he had always loved climbing) when it came so suddenly and violently that he almost fell and very nearly was transported to the Creature's side. He clung, gasping, to the rock walls and let himself calm down a little. Hazelmere worriedly climbed over and snuffled his cheek.

Marx steeled his nerves and looked up. He had been climbing for what felt like ages, but had only made it a sixth of the way. He groaned, his limbs burning, and continued his seemingly endless ascent. Despite all the climbing the Creature had made him do, the climb was more than he could take.

Another blast of magic from the Creature sent him tumbling through the air, screaming, to hit the ground seconds later, on his back at the foot of the Creature's throne. His back stung and he opened his eyes. Its eyes were flaming, literally flaming, and it was a huge, grotesque shadow looming over him. Marx got to his feet, gasping in pain and fear.

"You can't keep me stuck down here forever!" He yelled, feeling all his built up frustration and rage and pain burst out of him in the form of angry violet lightning sizzling on his palms. It tingled and felt like ice.

"If it's the last thing I'll do, I'm getting out of here!" His voice rose to a scream and the lightning crackled and hissed. The Creature, instead of punishing him, simply smiled with its horrible yellow mouth that looked like it had shadows dripping like water in front of it.

"Excellent, boy, look what you've managed to do," Its voice weaved into Marx's thoughts, but he shook it off. "Get out of my head," He growled, clenching his fists. 

"And how could I, when you are literally a piece of me forced into a host? We are linked, boy, and there is nothing you can do to undo that," It sounded fiendishly pleased with itself and it made Marx feel sick. "The only thing you would have accomplished is getting yourself killed. Up there, you're just another monster to destroy. Down here, you're a prince... A legend. You don't even remember who you are. Just give it up, boy, give it up." 

"I will never give it up." Marx whispered. "Not ever."

"Then you will be punished." 

The Creature grinned horribly and let its magic ravage Marx's mind.