The vile, crumpled little thing held up at his face opened its mouth. Jabir ibn Hayyan’s grin split wider, and then the dark hole of its mouth gaped. There were no teeth in the maw, but Alex could see what he assumed was a pale tongue moving languidly at the back.

The glistening tongue wormed forward, and Alex tried to jerk away, revolted. It wasn’t a tongue at all, but something living that squirmed toward him.

“Open your mouth, Alex Hunter, and … receive me.” The pale grub-like thing, half an inch thick, with multiple arms and tiny black eyes, quested in the maw, waiting.

Alex now knew that this was the great alchemist’s secret to eternal life. To somehow have conjured, or called, to some sort of “thing” that had arrived from the heavens or hell, or from some other madness, to take him as its host. Perhaps Jabir ibn Hayyan was the latest vessel that it had occupied, and now, as the body shriveled down to nothing, it wanted another vehicle to take it out of the pit where it had existed for too many centuries.

Alex kept his teeth clamped, speaking through his grimace. “What … is … that thing?”

“It is beauty incarnate, Alex Hunter. Perhaps it is a god. Perhaps it is a Traveler that has been trapped here since before mankind even climbed from the ooze. Its lifespan is measured in millions of years, not like us feral insects that are here and gone within the blink of an eye. It needed protection, and in turn it gives us, gives me, greatness. And it will give you that same greatness. You ask what it is, Alex Hunter? It is a gift; receive it willingly.”

“A gift? I’ve heard that before.” Alex strained with every ounce of his being. His teeth remained clamped shut, and he tried to turn his head away. The thought of the thing climbing into his mouth and worming its way down his throat threatened to make him vomit. His body strained, but in his mind something fought against its bonds even harder.

“It is normal to resist at first. The unknown is frightening. I will help.”

Another layer of pressure wrapped around his mind, and then Jabir ibn Hayyan reached out tiny withered arms to embrace Alex’s jaw. The sharp little claws dug into his skin, and the yellow eyes burned into him. The gummed mouth creaked open another fraction as his head tilted back. The thing in his mouth started to extend, its multiple tiny arms also reaching out to him.

Jabir ibn Hayyan clung onto Alex’s face, suspended there, and the huge Eli figure reached forward to grip Alex by the shoulders, holding him firmly in place. Alex could feel the colossal strength in the hands that enfolded him, pinning his own arms flat to his body.

“No.” Alex felt perspiration break out on his face.