[ WP ] `` You may have one wish granted . '' `` I want all my debts cleared . '' `` How much do you owe ? '' `` You misunderstand . My debts are not monetary . ''

`` You may have one wish granted.'' 
 
 The creature's eyes stared into his soul, and his soul seemed to stare back. This monster could not intimidate him - it was bent to his will, and the price of its freedom was a single wish. 
 
 `` I want all my debts cleared.'' 
 
 The demon was confused, but it did not wish to contest. A simple wish was best. 
 
 `` How much do you owe?'' 
 
 `` You misunderstand.'' The hooded man smiled. `` My debts are not monetary.'' 
 
 The demon, black and twisted and horrifying as it was, a true being of shadow, was bound. It did not wish to play these games. It wished to know what to do, and to be left to do it. It bit its tongue. 
 
 `` What then, are your debts?'' 
 
 The man lifted his staff and pushed it down, the base of it letting out a commanding clap against the cold stone floor. `` I have a deal with the devil. You will be the one to break my end of the bargain.'' 
 
 The creature's face twisted and turned. It knew this was absurd. It knew it could n't do anything about this deal. But if it denied the request of the hooded man, it would be killed and flung into eternal torment. Or worse - it would be bound into the human's servitude. And while a demon serves, its life becomes its owner's own. This man would be immortal. This man had worked it all out. 
 
 `` How do you expect me to clear your debt to the devil, little human?'' 
 
 `` The answer to that is beyond my expertise. To answer that question is your job.'' 
 
 `` You do n't possibly expect me to-'' 
 
 `` I do!'' 
 
 He slammed the staff down again. Each of its claps was a warning. For a moment, the man's rage seethed, and the demon was intimidated. Somehow. It had never felt this way before. This was a demon's greatest shame. To be enslaved by a mortal. But this demon had one chance. The human was immortal for as long as it served him. He would not die of old age, but he could be killed. Not by his own servant, but he could die. 
 
 `` I can not clear your debt alone... master.'' 
 
 `` I'm sure. Then we will walk through the pits of Hell together and have my debts cleared. If you value your freedom, it will be done. I will be watching you very closely.'' There was silence for a moment. `` Now open the gate.'' 
 
 On command, the demon slipped into its own shadow. The shadow morphed and became round, and then a hole opened up, expanding from the shadow's centre, opening a path to a staircase. The man began to walk down, his shoes tapping rhythmically against the stone steps. The sky around him was a deep purple, but further down it seemed to become orange and later red. 
 
 The black demon's shadow slithered down the stairs after him, having come through itself through the portal. Rising out of it, the creature reformed. As the pair got further down, the steps behind them began to crumble away. The man did not change his pace - they did so too slowly. 
 
 At the bottom of this staircase was a great iron gate, guarded by a demonic behemoth. It was many times his size, with a thick orange hide and a great pair of horns. It was heavily armoured, flames pouring out from its gauntlets up his arms. It carried a massive axe, which it did not hesitate to bring down on the hooded figure. The slice cut him in two. 
 
 But there was no blood. Instead, shadow poured out from where the slice had been made. A similar slice down the middle appeared on the black demon simultaneously, and the shadows poured out the same. The shadows solidified, and both were healed. The black demon approached, growing in size. It stared the gatekeeper down, and laughed maliciously. It's voice became booming. 
 
 `` My pain is his pain. His pain is my pain. I am Nihl - High Inquisitor of the damned. I have a debt to clear.''
