Masquerading minefields

Ludo merely regarded her with a flat, ink black stare at her pitiful excuse for temptation. It shrugged its shoulders at her barbs, her questions, her attempts to rile it up again, having already decided that it would not allow that sort of thing a second time. "I will not wither," it said calmly. "A true god's energy is boundless. It is something you will never know, regrettably." But they had a deal, and the mask was off and the souls - oh, the souls rose up like a song around her, trapped for long enough that it brought tears to Ludo's eyes. Inhaling deeply, a pulse of willpower had the motes of light rushing towards it, swarming like fireflies and settling on its skin. "I only bother the living with petty tricks," it muttered. "When you die, I shall collect your soul as well. What little of it there is left." A wave of its hand and the mask would disappear from her fingertips, Ludo raising it to its face once more. Almost instantly, ribbons of deep shadow erupted out around it; it surged into the sky and was gone. {END} LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own