Reflection

[Kaiphur]

1st of Winter, Year 513 Blackness. No matter how much he rubbed his eyes, looked around or how long he waited, there was absolutely nothing to see. “Am I blind?” He thought, and his thought broke out of his mind and was voiced around him, reverberating in the darkness. Something was amiss. Slowly, a small strip of horizontal light appeared before him and he began to have the sensation that the space was becoming more cramped, more restrictive. A beautiful voice spoke calmly - “Open. Open the box.” He raised his hands and pushed, opening a lid and stepping into an ornate room. It had a frilly bed, intricate rugs and delicate furnishings – it reminded him of his old home in Syliras. He glanced back to see what he had emerged from – it was an old and worn wooden chest, and it seemed completely out of place. He felt compelled to stay away from it. Something was drawing Kaiphur towards the door. This room had a strange quality, and it made him feel uneasy. He took hold of the handle and pulled. There was a dark corridor, filled with a heavy mist. He placed his hand inside it and felt cold. Kaiphur turned around to go back into the room, back into the box but it looked different. Warped, uneven… old. Unused. Unfriendly. He had a terrible feeling about that room. “You must move.” The voice. It wasn’t his own, but familiar. “You must.” Kaiphur looked back again and saw the room was in a state of decay, filled with shadows that seemed to contort and bulge and hiss. “Go now, Kaiphur.” He closed the door behind him and was enveloped in the freezing haze. “What do I do?” He whispered. As if in answer, Kaiphur noticed a dim light at the end of the corridor. He could hear horrible noises from behind the door, and it began to shake. “Run."