The Door At Duck

to make the house itself hold its breath. The fog that had wrapped the forest in a cold embrace through the

quick rhythm of her heart. Outside, the trees swayed gently in the morning breeze, their shadows long and sharp across

fice. Blood of the Hollow and blood pure of heart. The Binding wa

he one who ha

foot like whispers of the past. Aunt Miriam was nowhere to be seen, and Silas had vanished after the

per and dust hung like a shroud. The journal of her grandmother lay open on th

than courage. It will demand l

loss. The ghosts of her family's past seemed to reach t

heavy in her jacket pocket. It marked the cleari

ad he truly feared? What had driven him to f

manor's scattered relics - a worn silver dagger from a dusty cabinet, a length of thick

ummed softly, a comfortin

readable beneath the silver strands of his hair. The blue run

oice was steady but carried a w

ded. "I'

owing colder and thicker with each step until they s

nd the door slid open with a deep, grinding

will test your heart, your will. You must find the Veil and perform

ugh the mist, the world shifting and fol

with flickering images that danced just beyond reach. The air s

forward, guided by an unseen force that se

her ancestors, their eyes hollow and pleading. S

n," one voice hissed,

ng the key, which glowed

he path spl

ark, lined with jagged stones t

from an archway, and faint music echoe

ed with longi

oice w

e the sha

ght from her key's glow. Whispers turned to growls, shadows

elf, voice steady despite th

d aloud. "I carry your le

he key blazed like a star,

g lost in blackness above. At its center stood a great st

breath

as the

around her, silent witnesses to

altar, the key glowin

dge Miriam had shared - the sa

ld blade gleaming in the eerie lig

rp and fierce, but

d fell onto the runes

d the shadows around he

h the cavern - deep,

me will

merge from the shadows - a towering being woven fro

Ho

a hand, claws lik

I will grant you power beyond your

heart p

g the key, its lig

ref

fury, the cavern sh

ssomed - Silas stepped forward, swo

ot have her

light clashed with darkness in a deadly dance. Aria fought be

nged his sword into the alt

cavern, and the Hollow scr

lone in the cellar, the altar go

l again, a simp

was

ent - lighter, as if a gr

floor, exhaustion

ad been made -

cou

w

hea

the hills, and the forest around

was won, but the wa

was seale

of Blackwood wa

ot let the dark