Binarius by Kendra McMahan Page B

next to the fire. “Thanks again” she muttered quickly as
she turned to leave the room.
    In a moment, Ednas had crossed the
distance between them and was now inches from her face. Firinne
stepped back and pulled her hands to her face. Ednas’ eyes were
completely blacked out. She was standing up straight and moving
towards Firinne with every step back she took.
    “ I didn’t mean to upset you…I
just…I really need to go to bed.”
    Ednas said nothing.
    “ Please…I don’t want
to…”
    Ednas was cornering her. She didn’t
know what to do. Without thinking of the ramifications, she flicked
her wrist and revealed to Ednas a little ball of spectralin. As she
did, Ednas began to cower like a child, yet still determined to
keep a black eye on Firinne. Firinne slowly made her way around the
room and back towards the door. She never put her back on Ednas.
She continued to hold out the ball of spectralin as a warning of
what she was capable of.
    Ednas appeared to be having
convulsions. With every move near Firinne, her body twitched into
morbid angles — distorted — slow motion. Then, Ednas’ mouth flew
open and black mist flew out of her mouth. It stretched itself
across the room like vines. There was a deafening guttural scream
like there was liquid in her throat. Firinne ran towards the
stairs. One step after the other, in the tiny corridor. Behind her,
Ednas was after her, in convulsing movements of speed and slow
motion. Firinne could hear her nails, like claws, scrape the marble
behind her.

 
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER
TWELVE
    A Means To An Escape
     
    Her feet
were smacking hard against the floor but her torso was taking the
lead. She had to get to her room. For some reason, that was the
only place she felt she would be safe. She could hear Ednas’
breathing following close behind her, raspy and hollow. The harder
Firinne ran, the longer the corridor seemed to be. It stretched out
farther ahead of her. She could barely see her chamber
door.
    Then, she was there. She slammed
the door behind her. Her back resting against the opposite side of
the door. She double-checked to make sure she had locked it, she
had. Seconds passed. She was waiting for the door to crash in, or
scraping at the door — something — nothing.
    Minutes passed over her gasps which
lasted seconds.
    Knock, knock, knock. Slowly,
Firinne turned to face the door. She turned the latch off of the
eagduru, hesitated for a moment, as she opened the little miniature
door. She let her eyes adjust through the iron grate. Ednas was
standing in front of Firinne’s door.
    “ Hello dear. You’ve just dropped
your hair pin in the corridor, just there.” She looked behind her
in indication. As she turned, Firinne noticed black mist rise from
the base of the old woman’s skull. Her face was twitching, and
Ednas didn’t seem to notice. “Are you okay dear, you look like
you’re in a state of shock?”
    “ Oh! Yes…I’m fine. Yes, thank you.
If you could just push it under the door. I haven’t got any clothes
on at the moment.” To herself, she prayed that this wouldn’t raise
suspicion.
    “ Alright, my dear, have a lovely
night. Do get some sleep won’t you. I hope you enjoyed my tea. I’m
sure I will see you again.”
    “ Yes, thank you. It was lovely.
Good night then…” Firinne watched as Ednas walked back down the
corridor. She pried herself from the door only after she had
confirmed that the corridor was empty — several times.
    She could hardly grasp what had
just taken place. Yet, she didn’t know why she should be so
surprised. Scared, yes. Surprised, no. This Mist of Blacken, after
all, was successful in taking captive the Desideriums, so why not
Ednas? It was as if Ednas hadn’t even had the slightest indication
of what had just happened. That couldn’t have been an act. No, she
was definitely taken, momentarily, by the Mist. She had to have
been. So if Ednas could be taken, why not anyone? Why not Firinne?
Why