watching presence of at least two souls who were bound to that place, unable to leave.
Dalliah ordered Kate to dismount, and stood with her hand against the tower’s solid door. ‘It has been a long time since I was last here.’ The tower reacted immediately to her touch. The silvery glow faded back until it was barely visible at all, retreating from her hand like ripples on a lake.
Dalliah pulled a key from a pouch on her belt and slid it into the lock. The door was stiff and the air that belched from inside smelled dead and dry. Kate choked in the swirling dust, but Dalliah was unaffected. The two of them stepped into the forgotten building and then Kate heard the voice.
‘
Do not go
.’
Dalliah showed no sign of having heard it, but to Kate the voice was soft and clear.
‘
Please
.’
Inside the tower was unexpectedly bright. Light poured in through slit-like windows pierced into the walls alongside a curling staircase that rose from the vault belowand led up to the levels above. Kate covered her nose with her sleeve to allow herself to breathe and spotted something slumped against the wall. It was a broken skeleton, its skull set crooked and empty eyed, its bony fingers hooked around the handle of a rusted blade.
‘Hello, Ravik,’ said Dalliah. She kicked the skeleton’s foot as she passed it, sending bones rattling across the floor. ‘You’ll be wanting this back, no doubt.’ She dropped the key between the skeleton’s ribs and something moved in the air above the steps. Kate looked just in time to see a pale apparition of a young man sinking into the wall.
‘Ignore him,’ said Dalliah. ‘He was useless in life, worthless in death.’
‘Who is he?’
‘A previous student of mine,’ said Dalliah. ‘He did not believe in what we are about to do. He made things difficult. He might have lived a little longer if he put his intelligence to better use.’
Dalliah crunched a loose bone beneath her boot as she followed the steps upwards. Kate hesitated, concerned that Dalliah had locked the door behind them, and the moment the woman was out of sight she crouched down, slid her fingers between the dead man’s ribs and hooked out the little key.
‘
Do not go
.’
The air chilled beside her, and she spotted something next to the old blade. Something had been scratched within the stone. She moved the dagger to one side and discovered a thread of spiked, thinly cut letters, etched to form a shaky word.
MIRROR
Kate’s fingers brushed gently against one of Ravik’s thigh bones as she stood up, and she saw the final moments of his life through his own eyes.
Standing at a desk. An intruder behind him: heard, but not seen. A knife – like fire – plunging into his side. The attacker making his escape. Ravik’s bloodied hands staining the walls as he stumbled down the tower steps. The door . . . locked
. Kate heard his weak cries for help as if she were making the sound herself, sharing his pain and desperation as he spent his last scrap of life scratching the message into the floor.
‘Kate.’ Dalliah’s voice carried around the curved staircase and she quickly moved her hand away from the bone. Ravik had not been surprised by the locked door in the memory. He had expected it: only half hoped that his attacker had forgotten to seal it again on the way out. Kate had noticed deep scratches around the lock where someone had tried to prise the door open from the inside. Whatever Ravik was doing in there, he had not been doing it by choice. He had been locked in that tower many years ago. He had been murdered there, and now his spirit could not leave it. Ravik moved through the walls, circling her, but staying out of sight.
‘
Don’t let her find it. The message must be passed on
.’
Kate stood up, pocketed the key and read the scratched word once more. ‘I’ll try,’ she said, still not sure what it meant, and Ravik’s spirit passed invisibly beside her, leading her up the tower steps.
At
Dalliah ordered Kate to dismount, and stood with her hand against the tower’s solid door. ‘It has been a long time since I was last here.’ The tower reacted immediately to her touch. The silvery glow faded back until it was barely visible at all, retreating from her hand like ripples on a lake.
Dalliah pulled a key from a pouch on her belt and slid it into the lock. The door was stiff and the air that belched from inside smelled dead and dry. Kate choked in the swirling dust, but Dalliah was unaffected. The two of them stepped into the forgotten building and then Kate heard the voice.
‘
Do not go
.’
Dalliah showed no sign of having heard it, but to Kate the voice was soft and clear.
‘
Please
.’
Inside the tower was unexpectedly bright. Light poured in through slit-like windows pierced into the walls alongside a curling staircase that rose from the vault belowand led up to the levels above. Kate covered her nose with her sleeve to allow herself to breathe and spotted something slumped against the wall. It was a broken skeleton, its skull set crooked and empty eyed, its bony fingers hooked around the handle of a rusted blade.
‘Hello, Ravik,’ said Dalliah. She kicked the skeleton’s foot as she passed it, sending bones rattling across the floor. ‘You’ll be wanting this back, no doubt.’ She dropped the key between the skeleton’s ribs and something moved in the air above the steps. Kate looked just in time to see a pale apparition of a young man sinking into the wall.
‘Ignore him,’ said Dalliah. ‘He was useless in life, worthless in death.’
‘Who is he?’
‘A previous student of mine,’ said Dalliah. ‘He did not believe in what we are about to do. He made things difficult. He might have lived a little longer if he put his intelligence to better use.’
Dalliah crunched a loose bone beneath her boot as she followed the steps upwards. Kate hesitated, concerned that Dalliah had locked the door behind them, and the moment the woman was out of sight she crouched down, slid her fingers between the dead man’s ribs and hooked out the little key.
‘
Do not go
.’
The air chilled beside her, and she spotted something next to the old blade. Something had been scratched within the stone. She moved the dagger to one side and discovered a thread of spiked, thinly cut letters, etched to form a shaky word.
MIRROR
Kate’s fingers brushed gently against one of Ravik’s thigh bones as she stood up, and she saw the final moments of his life through his own eyes.
Standing at a desk. An intruder behind him: heard, but not seen. A knife – like fire – plunging into his side. The attacker making his escape. Ravik’s bloodied hands staining the walls as he stumbled down the tower steps. The door . . . locked
. Kate heard his weak cries for help as if she were making the sound herself, sharing his pain and desperation as he spent his last scrap of life scratching the message into the floor.
‘Kate.’ Dalliah’s voice carried around the curved staircase and she quickly moved her hand away from the bone. Ravik had not been surprised by the locked door in the memory. He had expected it: only half hoped that his attacker had forgotten to seal it again on the way out. Kate had noticed deep scratches around the lock where someone had tried to prise the door open from the inside. Whatever Ravik was doing in there, he had not been doing it by choice. He had been locked in that tower many years ago. He had been murdered there, and now his spirit could not leave it. Ravik moved through the walls, circling her, but staying out of sight.
‘
Don’t let her find it. The message must be passed on
.’
Kate stood up, pocketed the key and read the scratched word once more. ‘I’ll try,’ she said, still not sure what it meant, and Ravik’s spirit passed invisibly beside her, leading her up the tower steps.
At
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