The Riddle Twins

Chapter 17 - Run!

Gabriel dashed across the woods with his cloak floating behind him, squeezing the straps so firmly the leather burned his skin. He kept checking the level of the sun, tapping his feet firmer with each passing dozen. Breathless, he tried to shield his eyes from the forceful wind, however the thought of loosing ahold of the rains made him suffer through the watery eyes.

He simply sucked it up.

The time was inching him and he couldn't afford any mistakes.

The night was merciless, the wind crashing against his skin like dashes of a whip, stinging his flesh and irritating his alabaster skin. He lost sensitivity in his hands, his tips turning bright red as the temperature drastically dropped.

The moon started crawling above, it's shine brightening the pits of blackness in the distance and after more than an hour, Gabriel squinted his eyes, finally noticing a tip of a tower in his view.

However that moment of negligence cost him a price he refused to admit.

The horse suddenly rustled, rising to his hind legs and Gabriel felt his eyes widen. The animal went completely mad, thrashing and kicking. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The leather slipped from his fingers and he flew over the horses head, landing onto the ground with a thud.

The world slowed down, from the moment he hit the ground, to the second he stopped rolling and his body finally came to a halt, consumed by undescribeable pain. With the breath being forced our of him, he didn't notice the creature slithering beside him. He never figured the reason for which the horse fleed.

There was a snake.

A viper, crawling just a feet from Gabriel who had his eyes squeezed shut in torment, holding onto his shoulder for dear life. The wizard could only make up the faint hiss, the sound of hooves thudding against the dirt, but even those came to him from distance.

His world was spinning, his head pounding. Darkness started cornering his sight and ever so slowly, despite his might to stay awake, the boy started loosing his consciousness.

The only thing, that could save him was his brother, who fortunately, sensed the pain that shot through him like an arrow. Mattheo was sitting by a fireplace, peacefully staring at the green flames with a glass of liquor in his hand, when suddenly, a weird sensation flooded his senses. His world stopped abruptly.

The ringing in his ears stupefied him and his mouth fell open in agony as the pain invaded his senses, numbing his ability to think straight. The glass fell through his fingers and shattered into milion pieces at the impact with the ground, the shreds blasting across the room in a slow motion.

It came out of nowhere, lasted for a few seconds and than...just vanished.

Mattheo precitipously stood up, his breath raged, heart pounding. The faint tug in his subconscious turned into a forceful pull and he realized, that he should had listened to his gut before.

"Gabriel?"

His pupils contracted when he got no reply.

"Gabriel!"

His voice reached his brother. Gabriel heard it in the back of his mind, but it was way too foggy, shaded with ache and sudden fatique.

Something was wrong, and Mattheo knew.

Without hesitation, he ran out of his room in inner histeria, the door cracking at the force he slammed them open, rushing through the numerous staircases lit by nothing but a fine light of candles. The shadows demonically reflected on his face as he ran, his features marked with unexplainable feeling of dread. His insides kept twisting into knots as nausea hit him straight in the stomach.