Hello Darkness

The circle on the floor roars to light, the arcane sigils burning a bright green before simmering into a glowing purple. But not extinguishing. Not yet.

I touch the holy symbol I'm wearing more out of fear and respect than true belief, and hope that I made no errors on the inscription. The barrier seems to be holding. Good, good. Now the true test.

The purple fire continues to crackle, and a thick black smoke appears, trapped by the circle. It swirls, and coalesces into a shadowy form, underlit by the purple light of the magic words at its feet. It's skull-like face reflecting the light brightly, as thought it was pulling the light from the rest of its body even. To look at the thing's chest was painful to the eyes, almost like it was taking away light from the viewer.

"Many moons have waxed and waned since last I saw you, magician." The darkness spoke, a surprisingly human tone to its voice. It tapped at the invisible prison it was trapped in, walls of mystical force projected by the burning runes on the ground. "And you have learned much since then, I see. Perhaps you are more useful than I gave you credit for."

I did it. I got it right.

Hello old friend. Let us see if you can suffer, as I did at your hand. Let us see how human you still are.