Sunday, August 12, 2007

Shadows and Premonitions

*In the span of a night, the twisted ghost of a time long past resurfaces to haunt an aging Shadowknight. Unable to reclaim the aged Shadowknight's services, it turns its attention to one of his sons and a long loyal comrade by name of Reklah Kayen. The short tale below is Reklah's elven wife, Nymaya Kayen, waking even as he confronts a ghostly messenger bearing a dark portent in the very hallways of their sprawling estate.*

Darkness still reigned when she opened her eyes, aware that something had awoken her. Slivers of moonlight pierced through the heavy drapery that concealed the tall windows in the bedroom, but it was more than enough for her to see clearly by. There was an oppressive weight to the air that tasted slightly metallic and bore the heavy industrial scent of Verminasia. It sat heavily upon her as she lifted her gaze to note that the other side of the bed had been vacated.

Feeling edgy, she slowly slipped from the bed while pulling one of the dusky silken sheets to wrap around her body and padded silently to the window. Moonlight was abundant as she parted the drapes to gaze outside though it was yellowed by the heavy air and a hazy murk was drifting aimlessly along the ground, obscuring the green grass and making monsters of the trees.

It might have been the silence itself, but a prickly sensation rippled down her spine and she turned away from the window to move back across the room, noting that the door stood slightly ajar. She could think of a few reasons that might have spurred Reklah to wake in the night, but she was curious and more than a little cautious, so she returned to her effects and took up her blade. It gave a subtle hiss as she pulled it from its sheath, gleaming a soft blue in the darkness. Thusly armed, she held the dusky silk firmly to her chest and made her quiet way out into the hall.

The granite floor was cold beneath her bare feet but with each taciturn step she took, she felt her slight unease increase. There were too many rooms in this place, she thought quietly to herself as she passed the numerous closed doors, but before long she found herself closing on the junction of the stairwell and it was in the shadows of the hallway that she stopped to see what had been causing her unease.

Reklah stood there, staring at the pretense of a cloaked man who had obviously been trespassing. What fool would trespass on their property? A frown touched her brow and her hand tightened slowly upon the wrapped hilt of the blade that she held down at her side, concealing its soft shimmer within the folds of silk that trailed down her sides and out behind her. She had the urge to go out to him, but something more made her pause. It was in that moment that she felt, rather than saw, the gaze of the trespasser settle upon her. Reklah turned as well to spy her in the shadows of the hallway and in the resulting moment the cloaked figure dispersed into the shadows with a lingering hiss.

Unnerved but not surprised, she remained where she was for a beat or two and then stepped out into the faint moonlight that the large overhead window provided, allowing her blade to slip free of the concealing silk, her gaze settled firmly upon Reklah as she muttered in a soft tone.

"Never a dull moment in our lives"