A Blind Seer

Chapter 16

I wake up.

Strange carnival music fills my ears, drawing me to stand. I grab my cane, assuming it must be morning and this is a stunt the servants are pulling. Before I walk away, my steps hesitate.

The ring.

My thoughts tell me more than suggest. I grab the ring, the band fitting comfortably on my thumb. I walk, my door creaking as it opens. Instead of heading to the dining area, I turn on my heel to where the music hauntingly calls. My feet glide across the smooth ground and carefully climb up the steps. More turns that my ears guide me down, and before I realize it, I've long left the manor behind.

What was I...?

Any questions I want to ask are quickly dispelled, the music drowning them out. I continue to walk, mindless in my movements that seem akin to a person who could see the streets they walk on.

• • •

Cobblestone is smooth against my bare feet, and my ears are finally satisfied with having found the source of the music. I enter, a small bell alerting the owner I've arrived.

How long had I walked?

"Welcome." A soft masculine voice greets. My head tilts, "Where.. Where am I?" I question, my voice more confused than I'd like to admit.

"That ring..." The man ignores my question. "What a shame. It did not select you as its owner." My eyes snap open wide as clear thoughts come quickly rushing to my mind. I rip the ring off my thumb, chucking it at the ground and hearing it split. My hand darts for the door but I find it locked. I raise my cane, readying it as a weapon.

"Your eyes..." The man begins, trailing off. "Yeah, I'm blind. Do you think that makes me weak?" I snarl. I swing out my cane as footsteps near me. I hear my cane split, the wood bending in ways it shouldn't. I ignore it, instead tackling the man. I dig my fingers into his eyes and search for memories.

They flash in and out, a broken tape with nothing worth recalling. Chunks of words and faces flash through my mind, none making even an intelligible sentence. Despite that, I grip the man's mind, flashing the shards before his eyes in an attempt to buy myself time. I draw my leg back, keeping my thumbs firmly planted on the man's closed eyes. I slam my knee down to his stomach only to harshly bite my lip as my bones threaten to shatter at the contact. And so, I slam my thumbs deep into the man's eyes, forcing them into his skull. He lets out not even a grunt of pain.

"What are you?!" I demand, my voice loud but not willing to betray my fear. My powers release his mind, no longer able to hold onto anything.

"Master will be very pleased with you. White hair, full lips, and unique abilities." As he says that, a cold hand wraps around my neck, forcing me off the man. I'm raised off the ground, kicking fruitlessly as any blow I land only hurts me. I quickly give up, forced tears slipping down my cheek as oxygen slowly escapes my body.

And then, my consciousness fades away.

(A/N: Short Chapter because I felt it should end there, after all, cliff hangers are fun!~)