The Hand of Fate: Part V

It was dark and cold, Susan shivered as she desparately tried to see something, anything, a sliver of light. Slowly her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She turned slowly, on every side of her were doorways. No, not doorways, just openings. Openings into tunnels of more of the same darkness. She felt torn. She felt pulled to enter the tunnels as if something or somebody depended on it, but she was scared and the fear kept her feet rooted to the spot where she stood.

Finally, she moved forward a few steps toward one of the dark openings. "Hello..." she called out, but her only answer was that of her own voice echoing back. Her eyes darted around, looking for any clue of which tunnel she should enter first and then the eerie sensation that she was being watched caused her to shiver again and that feeling of someone needing her became stronger. Taking a deep breath she entered the tunnel before her and found herself falling, she screamed as she fell farther and farther into the blackness.

*************************************
Keera woke to the sound of her mother's scream. She rose quickly and ran down the hall, entering the room without knocking and over to Susan's side. She tried to wake her but to no avail. Keera knew it was another vision, they plagued her mother night and day now, and not even the herbal tea that Blackthorn had suggested to help Susan sleep, kept the visions away. Keera thought back to their earlier conversation, he believed that the visions were a part of the soulbond that existed between Susan and Corwin. A bond so strong that not even the ward that prevented Blackthorn from communicating with his brother, could stop Corwin from reaching out to Susan in some form. That in fact Susan was seeing whatever Corwin saw.

At last, Susan calmed down, the vision apparently leaving her mind. She never opened her eyes but reached out and took Keera's hand, her hand seemed frail to the touch but she gripped her daughter's hand tightly. Keera stayed by her bedside til the dawn broke and the shadows of the night slowly disappeared. Then assuring herself that the visions were really gone for the moment, she rose and made her way back down the hall to her own room. Sinking onto the bed, feeling a weariness deep within her own soul, she closed her eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.