Tempest

Four

[audi, vide, tace / hear, see, be silent]

Tessa shuffled down the trails, her knuckles white on the hilt of Tempest. Her heart pounded like a bass drum in her chest, hammering along as she followed the smoky shroud deeper into camp.

For a moment, she glanced back down the trail. It wasn't too late to turn back and get help. Maybe...No.

Tessa bit back her fears and turned around again. She gasped at where the shroud stood. It was atop the steps leading into the Big House, its windows almost as dark as what this thing was made of. It stood near the doorway, darkness billowing around it. It seemed to be waiting for her.

Tessa took a deep breath. She climbed the steps.

The shroud seemed relieved, because it continued on. It floated above the hardwood floors, weaving in and out of rooms and hallways until it reached the staircase. Tessa followed, trying to avoid the squeaky floorboards and prevent Chiron and Mr. D from waking.

She hurried up the stairs, following the shroud. She winced at every noise her footsteps made, but no one seemed to be on the verge of apprehending her. However, that frightened her. If this shroud was something less than friendly, would anyone hear her and try to help?

Finally, just when the anticipation was overwhelming her, the shroud stopped at the top of the stairs. A door was behind it, and the shroud moved aside as if beckoning Tessa forward. Come on, kid, I don't have all day.

"What, you want to show me something in the attic?" Tessa hissed.

The shroud didn't speak, which was just as well. If it did, she might have screamed. Tessa set her jaw and started forward. The closer she got to the shroud, the more she felt jittery, like this thing was nothing but darkness and mysteries. Tessa forced the feeling away, reaching forward and gripping the doorknob to the attic.

She swung it open and ushered herself inside. The only light in the haphazard room came from Tempest, whose Celestial bronze glow cast shadows along the boxes and spoils of war. Dust coated a majority of the objects, and Tessa stepped carefully around the larger boxes and crates.

"What did you want to show me...?" Tessa began to say, but her voice died as she turned around. The shroud was gone.

A flare of panic sparked in Tessa's stomach. Her instincts were telling her to make a run for it, to trap the shroud up here and get help...but she turned back around and there it was, standing in the far corner of the room next to a large circular object on the wall.

Tessa came closer, holding Tempest up for light. The shroud was only five feet away, but her eyes were drawn to the object it seemed to be showing her.

It was about three feet in diameter, standard shield size, with a large dent in the center, where what looked to have once been a lion was engraved. The shield was made out of bronze, but looking at it for that long started to make Tessa jittery.

Tessa glanced at the shroud, who appeared to be gazing at the shield as well. Well, if shrouds had eyes, anyway.

"Whose is this?" Tessa asked quietly. She held Tempest closer to it, trying to read the tag that hung above it, only to discover that there was none. A shield without a name or victor who had claimed it hung in the attic, its meaning and history unknown.

"It doesn't even have a history. What's so important about this?" Tessa took a step back, looking at the shroud.

Then, as if to answer her, one of the shroud's tendrils began to solidify into a smoky hand. It stretched back to the shield, pointing at the dented lion in the center of it, then pointed at itself.