CIRCLE OF SHADOWS Part 1: Shadow Chaser

Darkness hangs stifling in the grey hallway, muffled sounds floating through the air from the stairway at the end leading down.

Pictures and freezes hang dotted through the corridor, mostly scenes of battles and smaller portraits of men cloaked in blood red robes.

Star-filled skies are seen dimly through numerous small windows, light dimly cast into the dark interior.

Two figures huddle closely together in a shadowed alcove, whispering together in hushed voices, nervously glancing up and down the dimly lit hallway.

‘Have you heard?’ says the sharp faced man, narrow shoulders hunched forward, light red robes hanging limply across his bent back.

‘Yes I have. I can not believe he would not inform the Order of this important discovery.’

The other man looks around him, brown wavy hair bobbing lightly above his furrowed brow, square chin clamped tightly.

‘He has his reasons I suppose.’

‘None the less, he should include the rest of the Order. He has been reckless in displaying his disregard for any of us! All of us know that the thing he craves most is power!’

’Shhh, be very careful of what you say and where you say it,

Garet!’

The thin man rubs his hands together vigorously, looking anxiously at the red robed figure standing next to him, his vein pulsing at his temple.

Garet smoothes his robes over his blocky figure, glances at the thin man and sniffs disdainfully.

‘Leigh, I am tired of pretending we do not know what he is up to. And I am tired of playing along silently. The time has come for the Order to take control once again. Never before has one man commanded so much power over any one of us, or over the entire Order for that matter.’

Leigh looks at his friend, a small smile of understanding flitting across his thin face, drawn haggardly in the dim light.

Nodding his head in understanding he clasps his hands in front of him, desperately trying to stop his fidgeting.

‘Garet, have you seen him?’

‘Who? Simion? No, not as yet. But I had planned on visiting my old friend tonight.’

‘You do know he is being watched, very closely for that matter. My sources inform me that he is not completely trusted by His Grace.’

’Would you trust him, knowing what he has in his possession? If he knew how he could vanquish the entire Order, including His ‘high and mighty’ Grace.’ Garet looks down the dim hall,

eyes scanning for any intrusion.

Leigh looks askance at Garet before he says softly.

‘What is the reason for your utter distaste in His Grace? It is sounding more like pure jealousy... or is there something else.’

Garet looks back sharply, eyes flashing animatedly as he spits the words vehemently out.

‘He has caused the degeneration of what we believe in! What I have always believed in! He is unstable and unfit to hold the seat of power in our Order! He will, mark my words Leigh, be the downfall of all we hold dear.’

Leigh sighs, shoulders drooping lower and turns away.

‘Goodnight my friend. We will speak soon perhaps?’

Garet looks at Leigh’s retreating back, eyes hard and penetrating as he whispers into the dark corridor.

‘Goodnight. Sooner then you might suspect I fear.’

Leigh shows no acknowledgement of hearing Garet and disappears down the stairway at the end of the hall.

Standing in the silent corridor, Garet looks around him, a shiver running down his spine as he turns around and moves off in the other direction. Treading softly on the carpet covering the cold stone floor, Garet turns down a corridor leading deeper into the Castle.

Tip-tip!

Lurching to a halt at the soft sound, Garet turns around warily, heart beating wildly in his chest.

Moving his bulky frame slowly back towards the corridor they had just vacated, he peeks around the corner.

The corridor remains empty and dark, only faint spots of light coming in from the windows illuminating it.

Tip-tip!

Straining his ears to locate the sound, Garet leans against the wall with his body.

Eyes widening in realisation, he gasps in surprise.

‘It’s in the walls!’

Ear pressed tightly against the cold stone, Garet focuses his senses on locating the sound from within.

Tip-tip! Tip-tip.

Getting softer and softer till it dies down completely, silence hanging oppressively around Garet where he stands listening.

Garet pushes himself away from the wall, voice shaky and unconvinced.

‘It’s nothing.’

Ting-Ting! Crashhh!

Garet’s eyes pop wide open at the crashing sound from inside the wall and he inhales sharply, panic in his eyes.

Tip-tip-tip... tip-tip... tip-tip...tip-tip...tip!

The maddening tapping sound echoes wildly, a loud endless noise spiralling through Garet’s ears ripping his already tightened nerves to shreds.

A shrill shriek trills from his lips and he spins around, running down the corridor. Reaching the stairs at the end of this hallway, he careens into the wall as he makes the sharp turn and flies down two steps at a time, propelling around a corner into a lower hallway. The brightly lit hallway stands empty, bare of any furnishings or ornaments, the bright light stabbing like daggers into his darkness accustomed eyes.

Groping blindly forward, he reaches the door to his rooms, rips open the door, jumps inside the room and slams the door behind him.

Slumping momentarily against the wooden door he turns, locks the door and backs away slowly.

Breathing heavily, his pulse racing and heart thumping he inches over to a chair and table placed in front of a small hearth, a fire blazing happily inside.

With a loud plonk he sits down, sinking into the plush cushions of the chair and closes his eyes.

After a moments rest he opens his eyes and reaches weakly to a decanter standing on a small wooden table next to the chair.

Hand shaking wildly he pours a small glass of sherry, downing first one glass then another, as he tries to calm his frayed nerves.

He sighs heavily, settles his frame more comfortably in the chair and looks into the flames, brow furrowed, as he

sits deep in thought.

With the warmth spreading from the fire over his chilled body and through his insides from the sherry, he relaxes and finally succumbs to a fitful sleep.

Fil listens closely at the two figures hunched close by, their hushed words drifting through the wall to his hiding place easily.

As silently as he can he adjusts his sitting position, legs cramping from sitting in the same position in the cramped area behind the wall.

On his usual rounds through the maze behind the walls he had stumbled upon this discussion by accident, and true to his nature, had stayed behind to eavesdrop.

A smile flashes white in the dark confines as he says to himself proudly.

’I must be the most informed person in this castle... even more so than His Grace himself!’

Movement on the other side of the wall draws his attention back to his surroundings and he shushes himself softly, placing a dirty finger over his thin lips as he listens quietly as the two greet each other good night.

Listening to the two walk away, he gets up softly, suppressing a groan as his calf muscles cramp viciously.

Rubbing them vigorously he looks around him into the darkness, the faint footsteps of Garet walking away echoing softly

through the wall.

Smiling to himself mischievously he follows the sounds of the receding footsteps, softly moving along the small corridor.

Picking up a shard of rock chipped from one of the granite blocks making up the wall, he flips it into the air, catching it lightly in between his fingers before tapping it against the wall beside him.

Tip-tip!

Eyes glinting, he moves further along the narrow corridor, following closely behind Garet’s faint footsteps. Tapping against the wall intermittently with the piece of rock, he suppresses a loud snicker quickly, holding his hand clamped over his mouth as his shoulders shake.

Tip-tip!

Garet’s footsteps stop just past the sharp corner ahead, and Fil creeps silently forward, intent on his prey.

Running his fingers lightly along the wall, feeling the deeply etched grooves spread across the smooth surface of the slabs he reaches the corner and gives the wall a light rap with the rock.

Tip-tip.

Garet whispers something unintelligent on the other side, terror thick in the hushed voice.

Fil leans forward and taps the wall again lightly a couple of

times and as Garet goes quiet, Fil flings the stone through the air down the corridor parallel to the one Garet is using.

Flipping end over end, spinning in a wild arc through the air, the stone hits a wall, ricochets and bounces on the floor, shattering into small bits as it hits the floor again.

Swallowing back a loud guffaw Fil leans his closer against the wall, listening happily as Garet shrieks shrilly, followed by the flap-flap of Garet’s feet echoing against the walls, as Garet dashes madly down the corridor and stairs.

Laughing mirthfully, Fil turns around and walks back the way he had come, the dark corridor swallowing him easily as the evenings’ silence settles over the castle again.