Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 32

Hi

Whoa, what a weekend! I hope yours was great too. :-D
Okay guys, Anna's in ten kinds of trouble. What else will she learn? More about herself and her past?

We'll learn more in the next chapers!

Lara

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Chapter 32

I walked through the main hall and back towards the maze of corridors leading to Giuliana's room. The stone looked hostile and foreign. Learning my way around the village took longer than I thought it would, but by now I managed. Well, apart from this section.

I passed Giuliana's room undetected. The corridor wound to the right, another shift in light as I made my way deeper into the mountain. This was the heart of the compound and the safest place in the village. It was also here that I expected to find answers the Lumenis were reluctant to give.

One of the things I learned during the last week was that the Lumenis existed for more than one purpose. One of the big majors was the preservation of magic in its purest form. Somewhere in this village were halls and rooms stockpiled and crammed with knowledge and wisdom.

The books on magical theory Giuliana made me read – they had to come from here. It was more than a guess. Luca told me their ancestors' legacy was kept safe in the heart of their community, hidden away in the recesses of the mountain.

I was going to find out where exactly that was.

I kept close to the wall, feeling my pulse go up and wild whenever I heard the small tip-tip of sounds that might, or might not have been footsteps. While it turned out to be small rocks the first three times I sensed something – signs of decay and life within the rock – I never encountered a living soul.

A good thing, I thought, following the flickering line of torches to my right.

Another turn and there it was. It looked just like the rest, but something about the door was different. Something called to me, a gut feeling I couldn't quite describe.

I moved closer, staring at it. Old signs, ancient words chiseled and hammered into the stone. There was no doubt in my mind. It was the kind of door that would go with a room of importance. Was this one of the storage rooms, or, maybe if I was lucky, even the library I heard about?

My heart rate surged up, pulse fueled and eager in my veins. Was I finally going to get straight answers for vague questions?

I took a step closer, reaching for the heavy handle. I never pushed it down. I didn't get that far.

Instants before my skin made contact with the heavy metal the pain set in. Not the kind that makes you gasp and shriek. It was far beyond that. It was the kind that came with an inexplicable force; that reached into the furthest and deepest recesses of the mind. The kind that allowed for one thought and one urge alone: Make it stop.

I blinked, breathing hard. I'd lost time. I was sprawled on my behind, staring up at the front of the gates to what I believed to be my own Bluebeard chamber of horrors. I had no idea if I screamed, dreamed, or if I just passed out for a few seconds.

Recuperation took painful minutes – minutes in which I convinced myself that it wasn't as bad as I initially thought.

I stumbled more than walked into second sight. Planes of magic and power turned and shifted in front of my eyes. What I saw didn't make sense.

It was a ward. It looked like the one I'd seen on the borders of the village. If that was true, it was a ward made to conceal and deceive. Only it made no sense. If it was a concealing spell, I shouldn't have been able to see the door.