Chapter Three
The room was dark. No torches hung on the walls. No light seeped in through the door. It was just dark. The boy couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. So he decided to not look with his eyes, but with his mind. He closed his eyes and searched the room. He saw nothing and no one. It was just an empty room. Then he spotted a girl. She was no older than him. The boy approached her. Then she turned around and smiled. He opened his eyes and could only see her eyes in the darkness. There was something he didn’t like about those eyes. They were bright blue, like the ocean. Then she giggled and ran off into the darkness, disappearing. He spun around, but could only hear her giggles. He followed her giggles, but felt blind in the darkness. He closed his eyes and searched for those eyes. Those eerie eyes. He found them and she held a finger up.
“Ah ah. No cheating.” Then she blew on her hand and his vision was gone. He continued to walk blindly, only hearing her shrill laughter. Then he ran into a wall. He felt the wall and knew it was made of stone. The girl giggled again. The boy looked up, even though he couldn’t see. She was somewhere above him. Then he felt a tiny hand reach down and grab his shirt. She lifted him up into the air and onto a small ledge.
“How did you…?” But she only giggled and ran off, skipping on the small ledge. He started to walk on it, but slipped, his feet being almost too big. He gripped the wall and tried again. His foot slid and he fell off of the ledge and hit the hard floor. The girl appeared immediately above him. He could see her blue eyes looking at him. She giggled and ran into the darkness again. He slowly got up and tried to follow the girls’ laughter. She seemed to be playing with him. He got tired of chasing her around in the darkness. He knew they had not left the room. At least, he thought they had not left the room. He stopped following the little girl and yelled. Then he closed his eyes and thought. There was nothing in the room but the floor itself. He concentrated on the floor. Then he raised his hands above his head and muttered something to himself. Then he threw his hands toward the ground and the floor immediately burst into flame, so that he could see the room and the girl. The girl stared at him, an evil grin on her face. The fire reflected in her blue eyes and gave her a demon-like appearance. The flames danced beneath her as she spoke from above, hanging on a beam.
“You’re strong, Young Eppeley…for a newfangling.” Then her smile faded and she disappeared, leaving the boy alone in the flames.