The nobles of the dark city had agreed to meet that night. All of them stood here in their finest dress, great coats of the fur of beasts weighed their shoulders and finely groomed beards adorned their skulls. They now waited here, no man talking, a feast was set out before them and yet no man ate.

They waited here for the night haunter. The demon that had been haunting the streets of their dark city for the last decade. The dark city, before his arrival, had been a place of debauchery, sinfulness, greed, and injustice, everyone and everything moving at the noble’s command. Then the night haunter arrived, taking it upon himself to rip and tear through the sinners of the city.

The nobles begin to tremble as they hear the doors on the first floor open and thunderous footsteps begin making their way up the stairs and down the hall closer to them. The door to the banquet hall opened and the lords shuddered. The night haunter wore great, impenetrable armor even when confronting these helpless old men. He towered over them, easily 12 feet tall.

He lumbered through the doorframe and further into the lamplight. His skin was pale, almost bone white. His eyes were dark, black pools with only the faintest glimmer of light and life seemingly sinking deep down into them. His hair was also jet black and long, hanging off his shoulders down his lower back.

The room was silent as each of the nobles regarded the night haunter, none brave enough to speak. Then, after a long silence, one of the younger lords spoke up “you… you are the night lord?” the haunter grinned and ran his tongue along his lips, not breaking his stare on the man “was that much not obvious?” His voice was deep and grainy, as if he had not said a word in several days.

“If it is truly you, what do you want with us?” The other lords huddled behind the one brave one in their ranks. “I have not come to butcher you, despite the fact that you yourselves are the source of the slaughter. I have conquered your city and liberated those you held as slaves. For tonight, you will be comedians, as you will justify your crimes to me free of punishment.” There was a long silence, “begin talking” the dark king commanded. The young lord spoke up, “you have conquered us unjustly and as cruelly as if a hunter against his prey.”

The night haunter chuckled under his breath and said “by reason, by truth, I have learned how your hearts and mind’s function. With that, I brought peace to this place at the cost of freedom, peace reigns as I reign. I wouldn’t expect little men like you to see the gifts I have given without preferential treatment.” The young lord retorted “you have ushered in a peace of the graveyard, as all stand silent fearing the most gruesome death imaginable.”

“Yes, silence…” The night haunter broke a window, causing the lords to cower before him, “Listen to that silence, isn’t it sublime?”