/lit/ - Literature

>>2708762
Its head was an angular chunk of wood. One grotesque eye dominated the upper portion of it, and below was a crooked, wavy mouth. The other eye was smaller, and it starred a separate direction than its twin. The creature was hideous.
For an instant, Cess thought it to be looking at him. He froze in place, and only stared at the lanky, horrid creature. He couldn't look away. Faintly, he could hear screaming. A loud, mad screaming. Was it him? No, he couldn't even scream. After what seemed like an hour, the creature slowly turned its gaze away from him with a droning creak, and shuffled away.
Feeling as though he had woken from a deep sleep, Cess gathered his wits. He could still hear the screaming, louder than before. Looking behind him, he could see Dreg huddled up even closer to his wall, eyes wide and empty. Eventually, he stopped, and instead started whispering.
"The shadows, the shadows-- they found me! He was right there! He always finds me! He knew I was talking about him, he always knows."
Then he was silent. His eyes still remained full and wide, but he didn't rock himself anymore.
Cess couldn't find the strength to stand, so instead he crawled over to his cellmate.
"Dreg?"
The spirit offered no reply. He was motionless, and no sound came from him.
"He'll be like that for a while," said Histern. "Really, he should know better than to look at them by now. Probably why he's so insane. He's like a boy playing with fire. There's no reason to wonder why he's burned, Cess. Been playing with too much fire, he has."

>>2024947
Thank you!
Here, take some Faust.

Ah! Now I’ve done Philosophy,
I’ve finished Law and Medicine, 355
And sadly even Theology:
Taken fierce pains, from end to end.
Now here I am, a fool for sure!
No wiser than I was before:
Master, Doctor’s what they call me, 360
And I’ve been ten years, already,
Crosswise, arcing, to and fro,
Leading my students by the nose,
And see that we can know - nothing!
It almost sets my heart burning. 365
I’m cleverer than all these teachers,
Doctors, Masters, scribes, preachers:
I’m not plagued by doubt or scruple,
Scared by neither Hell nor Devil –
Instead all Joy is snatched away, 370
What’s worth knowing, I can’t say,
I can’t say what I should teach
To make men better or convert each.
And then I’ve neither goods nor gold,
No worldly honour, or splendour hold: 375
Not even a dog would play this part!
So I’ve given myself to Magic art,
To see if, through Spirit powers and lips,
I might have all secrets at my fingertips.
And no longer, with rancid sweat, so, 380
Still have to speak what I cannot know:
That I may understand whatever
Binds the world’s innermost core together,