Remnants of the Past

Rex had held onto only two fears his entire life. One of which, the fear of death, never really bothered him that much. The other, the fear of the dark, was a constant companion. This was one of the fears that was rather uncommon for a diamond dog, the other being claustrophobia. This was because in deep dark caves you tended to be facing your fear quite often. Rex was an exception to the rule. Over the years he had been subjected to the dark more times than he cared to count (he couldn't count that high if he wanted to anyway) and still the fear persisted. Eventually he got lucky and found a interesting little glow in the dark crystal. The glow wasn't permanent and required Rex to bring it to a light to recharge everyday.

Sadly for Rex his light had run out while he was still in the caves and he had been enveloped in the darkness. While for most diamond dogs, even for those afraid of such things, this wouldn't be too bad, Rex's solution to his fear had caused his eyes to be permanently adjusted to the light meaning that when the light went out he couldn't see.

Luckily for him, diamond dogs have an amazing sense of smell and he was able to find the tunnels heading back. Unluckily for Rex, his lack of vision caused him to miss the hole that was in the middle of the path. He sensed that he was stepping on air a moment too late and his body began to tumble down the steep cliff into the abyss below.

After nearly half a minute of tumbling and quite a few yelps he found himself stopping at the bottom of the pit. The long tumble had made it so that he would definitely bleed out long before he made it back to his pack's camp. So now here he was, facing two of his fears at the same time in what would be the last moments of his life. These were the diamond dog's thoughts (though in much simpler terms and with terrible grammar). But as fate would have it, he would not be leaving the world of the living that day for he was not alone.

"You don't have to die you know."

The voice whispered from inside the depths of his very mind, startling the diamond dog back to alertness as he was falling asleep.

"What, who there?" Rex asked, speaking in the trademark tone of voice adopted by diamond dogs everywhere, illiterate idiot. When no response was received the canine asked another question, "what do you want?"

"Ah, he asks the right question, surprisingly enough, I though it would take you a while to get there. What I want is to make you an offer."

"What you offer?"

"I will give you a way out of this pit and heal your wounds, in exchange you will work for me."

A look of hope and comprehension reached Rex's face as he realized that the voice was offering to save his life. "That it?"

"That's it, you work for me and I save your life."

The diamond dog responded less than a second after the voice had finished, realizing that he had no choice. "Okay, go ahead."

"Wonderful," the voice replied, the grin easily audible, "let us begin, oh an by the way, this is going to feel rather odd." All around Rex the darkness began to move, taking shapes, swirling in odd patterns before they crackled with a blue energy and stopped. Rex looked at it in confusion as he saw his wounds were still there when the shadows began to move again. They lurched towards him and he felt them pry open his jaw and he felt the darkness began to flow throughout his body as the world faded to black.

Rex saw nothing at all for what felt like days before the world exploded in a swirl of colors and he saw everything. The stone around him, the metals and gems within the walls, and the magic of the earth itself. Everything was visible to him in a display that should have killed him or at the very least blinded him, yet he felt no pain at all.

Soon the awe that had been inspired in him died down as he became accustomed to the world around him.

"What did you do?" Rex asked, no accusation or malice within his tone merely curiosity.

The voice answered him with a tone of satisfaction and surprise, "I improved you, made you whole again, although I am surprised that it worked."

"What do you mean by you improved me?"

The voice responded with a chuckled, "Oh didn't you notice, no, I let you see the world for what it is, I opened your mind, and, thank god, I fixed your terrible vocabulary. Your bones are harder, your muscles stronger and faster, your reflexes faster, and most importantly you are smarter."

Rex realized he was right, it was as though a veil had been lifted from his mind and he had been set free. For the first time in his life though, he really didn't know what to do. It wasn't as though he had thought about what to do previously, quite the opposite, mainly he let his instincts take over for him but now, now had control over them.

"Now I'm sure your realizing that your don't really know what to do, am I right?" Rex nodded in reply. "Well it's a good thing that I'm here to guide you. Do you understand that now I am your master?"

Rex once again nodded, a grin on his face, "Yes master, what do you want me to do?"