Rick looked on but his expression remained as cold as stone. The grim visage of himself did not sway his steeled stance, his eyes scanning evermore for the real threat to him here. Whatever it was he was looking upon it was only what it wanted him to see, not the truth. Not the whole truth perhaps.
There was no reaction outside of a slight pull at the right corner of his lips, just a subtle grit of the teeth as he refused to have his eyes turned askew through this change. The vision faded and left him with little more than a rough trail forward. His emotional response was more irritation than anything else. Despite it's efforts this brief vignette had simply served to inform Rick to some degree.
My mind has been compromised.
He did not enjoy it but that was the most obvious possibility he could perceive. At this point what was real and what wasn't was at best an uncertain distinction. It was entirely possible this entire forest was now a landscape played out within his head. He could be stuck in a vivid nightmare, dancing to the demon's tune.
It could be that it had simply come to flaunt it's power towards him, inviting him in to meet the fate it was laying out for him. He was skeptical about that however. If a demon had to power to reach inside his perception like so it was highly unlikely that it would simply leave his mind be past that. No, it was going to keep toying with his mind and from what he gathered it was not going to be subtle about it.
_
What bothered him most was that it had slipped through his mind ward. One of the first magics he gravitated towards learning was a method to protect his mind and for all the good that did now. Not only had it not barred the demon's intrusion into his head-space but there was nary a warning. He felt no effort from his magic as this thing penetrated his defenses.
Rick was unhappy. One of the few things that bothered him more than anything else and it was to be his first solo hunt, more or less. Jeopardizing the safety of the other captives at this point was a forgone objective. There was little to no way the entity responsible hadn't been made aware of his intrusion and now he was probably no less captive than the rest of them.
It made sense. Most of the other agents likely hadn't drawn the conclusion that they were stuck within their own minds and even if they did only a specialist in mind magic would be proficient in untangling themselves from this web. At this point the only thing left to try and do was to make the demon show it's hand. Only then could he understand the nature of it's attack and counter effectively.
_
Looking down the dirt path he saw the light at the end of the overgrowth-woven tunnel. It would be foolish to just assume that light was unattended if it was a real light at all. Being forced into a binary choice was not something he was just going to take laying down though. He looked at the vines that comprised the growth surrounding him. Producing his blade he drew a cut along a lone length of vine in an attempt to sever a piece from the tapestry.
He did not act in heedless haste however. He was well aware that a fair number of outcomes could result from this. Seeing as it was entirely possible this was a fabricated perception of reality what would occur was quite likely in the demon's hands to decide. He also knew that, seeing as this overgrowth of vines was unnatural, it was possible the greenery could react violently to this. After all there were a number of entities capable of animating plant life. It would not be unreasonable to expect something to be actively controlling the land a weapon against intruders.
So Rick stood poised, ready to respond at an instant. His eyes and ears were keen and waiting for even the most subtle cues.
Member
op2024
EchoicChamber
Prinz
VitaVitaAR
Kalas
dragonpiece
Fallenreaper
Mixtape Ghost N
Damycles