The Devil’s Compass

It only leads to one place

This is the story of how the trickster, Mephistopheles, made his own bargain with the devil. The story is told in Mephi’s own words, transcribed and translated here for the first time by Necro.

Portrait of a Dead Man by Damien Mammoliti

ONE-two-three-FOUR. ONE-two-three-FOUR.

The signal always came like music to me. This late afternoon was no different. A simple beat entered my mind innocently enough, a cadence that my steps fell in line with easily as I entered a familiar path that led to the woods on the outskirts of my village. Maybe it mimicked a song my grandmother played at tea the other afternoon but probably not. The beat acted as a compass and my body followed it. The sounds of the town and its folks and animals blended into the sounds of the forest until all that remained was the steady beat of the metronome in my head.  One that became louder the closer I got to the target.

The wind blowing through the trees frosted my fingertips and chilled my bones. The low…