Density

Suddenly, the sky clouded darkly. Even the sound of the wind died
sharply.
D’s right hand stretched for the sword on his back.
The courtyard was no longer the courtyard.
With every inch of his body, D felt it rising into being.
His immediate vicinity was pitch-black. Allowing not even light itself to
pass, its density was comparable to that of a black hole. But as incredible as
the density of the darkness was, it was several orders of magnitude lower
than the presence that stood before D, blocking his path.

D sent all that density right back at the presence.
I should have expected as much. You did well to resist it, a disembodied
voice said disinterestedly. It wasn’t praise. This was something the meaning
of which was beyond words. Anyone else would have been crippled by this
point, their psyche physically crushed. You certainly are a success.
“Silence,” D said. He didn’t have to speak the words, nor even think
them.

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