The Vorrgistadt Saga: The Shattered Oracle - II - An Astral Sojourn

II

An Astral Sojourn

- Page Two -

Her brother moved toward her desk to pick up the light he had inside of a candle-holder. He stopped right before her bedroom door to stare at her. His free hand went up to his mouth so he could bite a single fingernail.

"Well!"

The word escaped from her lips louder than she would have liked. She didn't want to wake up her father or the twins. Both her and Serranos would get in trouble due to the ruckus. She prodded him with her long and bony index finger poking at his forehead.

"Take me to where you saw this half-shade, half-thaekkuz nightmare of yours."

Both of them made their way out of her room. Serranos opened her door up fully, taking a moment to stare back at Thraya and make sure she hadn't gone back to bed. His eyes were still wide and wild. He slid into the hallway outside.

Serranos' footsteps were quiet as feathers falling on the wooden floor of the hallway. He moved cautiously and deliberately, making sure that every single footfall never hit any of the creaky spots of the floor. Thraya, however, was tired and clumsy. Each footfall was a loud slap of flesh against wood and every other step seemed to set off an alarm of creaks and moans from within the bowels of the old house.

Serranos stopped for a moment, halfway down the hallway, and one of his perpetual cow-licks of auburn hair on his head managed to unfurl and stand up at attention. His head shifted from one direction to the next and he held his breath for a moment.

Thraya gave him a light slap across the back of his shoulder blades and took a few steps to get beside him. She didn't feel or sense anything in the hallway. She looked where her brother had looked and only saw the darkness of the hall ahead, turning towards a foyer were the stairs down to the main level were. On either side of them were the doorways for the twin's room which was currently shut tight, and the doorway for Serranos' room which was partially ajar.

"There's nothing here. What's wrong."

"This is where I saw it. I had my door open. Slightly. As I always do. I opened my eyes and saw a shadow glide down the hallway."

Serranos stopped. He gave a long shiver at recalling the details in his mind. Thraya, although not fully adept in her studies of Haeth to pierce his thoughts, could feel the empathetic vibrations of fear come off of her brother. She now knew what he had seen was either real or was a convincing enough illusion in his mind to convince him it was.

"It went from far down." He stopped and pointed a finger behind them towards Thraya's room. "I think by mom and dad's room. Or maybe the side stairs up to the third floor. I don't know."

Serranos paused for a moment. His eyes began to well up with tears which glittered in the moonlight filtering in from a window down by their parent's door. He held out a single hand, his index finger pointing right at the doorway.

"It followed the hallway. It didn't make a sound. Not that I heard, anyway. It stopped by my door for a second. Blotted out all the light. Then turned and went into the twin's room."

"Did you check on the twins before you woke me up?"

"No." Serranos paused and could see the concern and anger welling up in his sister. "I was afraid."

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