Contributed by Lucas A. Fisher
When the two reached the next room, a strange feeling washed over them. The grand size and quiet lights were intriguing. The beauty ranged from a fireplace, plush sitting chair, too many books to count and the paintings. Oh, the paintings on the walls. They were the only sign of the scarred resident. A staircase climbed against two walls in an L shape to an overlooking floor of one room. Paintings of figures sat against the wall in the sitting room, climbing with the stairs. Each portrait had the lower half of an individual, their heads clawed away.
Clementine glared at the one clear painting left in the room - the Practitioner’s. Her companion didn’t ask since Clem was not the only one with memories of hurtful people. While she rested her leg, sitting on the large chair, Clementine heard whispers. Up the stairs. She climbed each grudging step. Higher was a test of nerve. Closer meant louder.
Clementine was lead to the one and only door. A simple door. She carefully opened and stepped through into a bedroom. Her eyes never shone at the royal bed and its comforts. The amulet glowed blue in her hands after inactivity. Out of the lavatories, the Queen (the Mistress to others) gracefully floated upon a shroud of clouds to gaze at the intruder. Shocked and terrified, Clem was entranced by her flowing dress of night and its stars. Her mask hid any emotion. If only Clem saw behind the mask. Then she could know, perhaps understand the Mistress’ surprise. In moments of tension, the Queen stared at this prisoner with the talisman. It held the power to lead anyone to their desires. Its abilities beyond that were lost. And it ran.
The Queen screeched and exploded after her. Clouds of darkness raced, shards of stars chased and the mask she wouldn’t face almost enshrouded Clementine. She leaped from the top step to avoid magic and tumbled down the stairs into a wall. Then the next set of stairs. Conveniently, her ally was nowhere to be seen. She saw the cloud envelop the chair while diving frantically through a vent in the sitting room into the next. A solemn room that held no light, yet “everything” was visible. The entrance was barred. A lovely portrait hung along the wall. In an empty space, Clementine had a painting, and soon the door pounded.
