Affinity [PAUSED]

Attacks and Mirrors

I awoke to the sound of a blaring siren. “Mhm” I groaned waving my hand around to turn off my alarm clock. I couldn’t find the snooze so I sluggishly got up. I really had to stop waking up in different places every day. The awful baring noise continued to blast in my room.

I walked to the door just as it was flung open. Orion spotted me right next to him and jumped. “Blake, we need to get out of here,” I yawned in response.

He grabbed my hand and we ran down the hall “What’s with the early wakeup call?” I asked sleepily.

“The barrier is being attacked.”

I stumbled over my own feet, “What barrier?”

“The one that keeps us safe from the monsters outside.”

A shiver went down my spine, didn’t I see dragons and giant lizards outside? “Like d-dragons?” I stuttered, fully awake now.

“Like demons” he responded.

We stopped at a large room that looked like a library. What was Orion thinking? We would study while being attacked? But Orion just ran to a book shelf and pulled down a book. The floor started to shake and a flight of stairs appeared. Yet another secret passage way. I looked down the stairs that led to pure darkness “Um Orion, don’t you think we need a flashlight or something?” He nodded pulling out a large 6 battery flashlight. It was the size of my head. “How’d that even fit in there?” I wondered out loud.

He held up the small knapsack he had been carrying “Magic, unlimited space” I rolled my eyes.

“You know, I’ve actually had a bad experience with-” Orion was already at the bottom of the steps. “Hey wait up” I shouted running down. As soon as I reached the bottom, the stairs rose back up.

“Come on, it’s this way,” he started to walk down one of the forks in the tunnel.

“Why are they attacking?” I asked confused, I felt like I was bothering him with my endless questions but he just responded with a shrug.

“They’ve never attacked before, it’s not like we declared war on any nobles lately.” He frowned “But then again, since you arrived the monsters outside have been agitated a bit.”

“Agitated?” I echoed.

“Yeah, they’ve been in impatient spirits but I dunno why.”

“Huh”

“Blake!” I heard a shout and I looked towards the sound.

“What?” I responded staring upwards, Silvia was sitting on a ledge with a telescope in front of her.

“Come here I want to show you something.”

I looked at the surroundings, a tall room with not much in it except for random ledges that jutted out of the sides of the walls. “And how am I supposed to get up there?”

“Orion, help her” Silvia waved at him and went back to staring at her telescope, before I could contemplate why she was staring through a telescope at the wall, Orion pulled out a rope ladder from his knapsack. He walked backwards a few steps and ran towards the nearest ledge and hopped from ledge to ledge till he reached my grandma.

“Whoa,” the ledges were almost 15 feet apart from each other. He extended the rope ladder down to me and I climbed up. “ ’sup” I said plopping down next to Silvia and Orion. Silvia sat on a velvet cushion while Orion dangled his feet off the edge of the ledge.

“Look,” she gestured to the telescope, I shot her a queer look but put my eye to the eye piece.

“Wow” I squinted, “Where did all of them come from?” there was a swarm of demons clawing at the barrier. Somehow the telescope made it possible to see the outside situation.