A thought suddenly occurred to her.
'Master?'
'Yes?'
'Why are we not hunting the seven apprentices?'
'Did the masters not fall before you like dogs?'
'Yes, master, bu-'
'Then hunting them would be a waste of time.'
The stern look he gave her indicated the matter was closed.
The master withdrew a long thin blade from within the folds of his ivory robes. He considered it a curious it that one might use as a weapon, having no need of such items due to the veritable arsenal the Power granted him. However, he recognised its usefulness in acts of stealth. This time he would not need it for such an act, instead, he held his left palm out before him, above the carving if the heart, and pricked his finger. A single drop of crimson fell from it, and landed on the floor, it began to spread, until the whole carving was glowing crimson.
He turned to her, looked her calmly in the eye, and slapped her.
She cried out in shock.
A singular tear cascaded down her cheek, and fell to the ground, where it hit the image of an eye, it too filled out with colour, only this time a glistening baby blue.
'These rooms are designed to drive the two who enter apart,' he explained, 'the blood and the tear must not be from the same person, and the tear must be real, so the other cannot know. Keeping secrets is the first thing to try and drive you apart.'
The floor began to glow reds and blues, revealing a series of increasing rings, moving out to the edges of the room. They began to rotate, making the room spin; she almost lost her footing. The inner ring rotated faster, until it appeared to bore down into the floor, sections of it fell away to reveal a staircase.
YOU ARE READING
As The Snow Falls
Science FictionWhen a prophecy that foretells the return of a great evil, the death of the seven masters that guard the ultimate weapon, and the rise of a dangerous warrior enemy comes true, it falls to the seven in training to wield the Power that courses through...
