Sort of Deadly

9 - Light Travels In Straight Lines, Centaurs Don't

In my dream, Arbo – the overweight bully who had upended that bucket of cold water on me – was a centaur. Half-horse, half-man, fully hideous.

He was running frantically, and that was a problem. Why? ‘Cause I was on his back, that’s why. I gripped his smooth brown hair like my life depended on it, and technically it did, and he was neighing like the mooncalf half-horse he was, and eventually I did slide off his horseback, and he trampled me to death with his rigid hooves.

Bit dark for your taste?

We haven’t even gotten to the real 'mare yet.

I woke up, breathing heavily. Moonlight filtered by the curtains lit up my blanketed feet. I could see strange, fluorescent worms crawling in front of my eyes, just like when Es had vomited that rainbow.

I closed them tight, savoring the utter pitch darkness for a second, before Arbo the centaur popped up like a horror movie jump scare in front of me, and I gasped and opened my eyes back up again, only to witness something stranger still.

Okay, get this. Light travels in straight lines, alright? Rectilinear propagation, is what scientists call it. It also acts as both a wave and a particle, but that is irrelevant here, so scratch that last part.

The moonlight I mentioned earlier was a clear, straight, slanted line, entering down from the window to my left and falling softly on to my feet. Absolutely normal.

But then, as I saw it, the light began to bend. It began to wave and ripple, shifting focus every second, oscillating at a remarkable rate.

Uh, wait, how do I explain this? Let’s say you have a flashlight, or a torch. You turn it on. A straight ray (beam, abstrusely) of light flares up from the front. Now, you keep your torch perfectly still . . . but the light starts to undulate, ripple like waves in a pond, get it?

Or, wait, you could just imagine a rainbow spread across the sky wobbling like an inflated balloon.

Or a rope, one end tied to a tree, the other end jerked violently, so that it starts to . . .  you know, vibrate, like that corn on Es's chin.

Only the rope is light.

More specifically, moonlight. In my room. While I sit there bamboozled.

Yes, that description works too.

It felt like watching Iron Man fly without his suit (Mar made me read every last one of those comics, and then Aar made me watch every last one of those movies). It felt unnatural.

Then, momentarily, the light was gone altogether. It was like a glitch in the Matrix (yes, Aar made me watch those too).

When it returned – the light, I mean – there was another jump scare. But this time, it was a high-definition, quality jump scare. And it scared the bejesus out of me.

What did I see?

Ignore Rule Number 1 for now.

Try and make a guess.

Yep.

Niffy.

In her red gown with brown polka dots.

Until they morphed into flowing red drapes restricted by ridiculous brown straps.

You see where this is headed?

Niffy's pretty, compact nose turned into a prettier, compact nose. Her eyes turned into narrow slits, poison green. Her lips became full and blood-red, her cheeks took on a rosy shade, and she –

Well, she turned into a tall, stunning, terrifying woman you and I know to be the Grahi Witch.

[Pause for shivers.]

I screamed. But no voice came out.
Now I completely get why Marra was so flustered after his dream/vision thing in Rasthrum's carriage back then.

Then the Grahi Witch whispered some goosebumps-inducing gibberish, maybe a strange language I’d never heard of before, placed one long gaunt finger on my forehead, and pushed it gently.

Make sure to share the first book with peeps so that they can get to this one too, okay? Don't be selfish xD

Thanks for reading either way!