The Door At Duck

secrets she wasn't sure she wanted to hear. Outside, the manor groaned and shifted in the night wind, the ancient

dy ticking of the grandfather clock downstairs, it

he key felt heavier tonight, a dull warmth radiating through the leather cord ag

ordinary. She pulled the lighter from her pocket and flicked it to life, the flame trembling in her hand.

earth and decay. The hidden passage yawned bef

ide. The tunnel felt alive, humming beneath her feet, carrying the weight of cent

od the st

in time with the runes, the vibrations coursing up

al had wa

oor c

before, hidden among the ancient symbols. The runes fl

ding rumble, the

and alive like smoke trapped in a cage. Aria stepped forward, the air t

ice-echoed thr

ia.

rapped around her ankles, cold as

etween places: a dim corridor lined with mirrors reflecting impossible versions of hersel

ed, and the reflec

lk and smoke. "You've come far, A

r chest. She wanted to run

use of you. Because of your blood. The door

s-a woman with hair like silver fl

ou?" Aria

the threads that bind the Hollow to our world. An

iron key, warmth sprea

y m

use the Hollow calls to those who belong to it. Be

shattered with the sound of breaking glass, sha

ser. "Will you seal the Hollow once and for all?

t of centuries, of bloodlines a

barely more

e... to

tself. The mirrors reformed, showing only one reflection:

r slammed shu

cellar, the cold mist fadi

sing, but in her heart,

onger just a secret be

her d