Hall of Games [The Celestial Chronicles #1]

Chapter Seven: A Little Too Late

"Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so."

- Lemony Snicket-

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Chapter Seven: A Little Too Late

Cady could smell the wonderful salty breeze of the sea and hear the faint cries of seagulls. Her fingers brushed against the cool, stone corridor. Tapestries displaying the many lines of a powerful man's heritage flanked the brilliant torches on the walls. She racked her brains, trying to figure out her location. Venturing down the corridor, she passed more windows and tapestries until she came upon a flight of stairs that led to the open.

A young woman came running down the stairs, her crystal blue eyes glowing with exhilaration. The cool wind blew by, toying with her wavy golden hair as she dashed past the open castle windows.

Cady tried to reach out, but her hands passed through the woman's body as if she were smoke.

"Um, hello?!" Cady said.

Receiving no response, Cady leaped before the woman and waved her arms. "Can you tell me where am I?"

The woman passed through Cady.

Cady jumped back in shock. That woman...she had to be a ghost. She decided to follow the woman and see whether this was just a dream.

"Tithonus, my love!"

The woman barged into a richly decorated chamber. A long table stood in the middle of the room where a man was talking with a council of five, all looking exhausted. One of them buried his face into the pile of scrolls and started snoring.

"Tithonus!" She bumped into the standing man who caught her before she could fall.

"My sweet, I'm in a meeting," he murmured as all four pair of eyes fell upon the excited young lady.

The woman seemed too excited to even listen. "Husband, I am with child!"

Delighted surprise crept up the man's face as he clasped the woman's hand.

"Surely you jest," he said. The excitement in his tone was barely contained as he fixated his stunning green eyes upon the woman, the meeting already long forgotten.

Her eyes said it all. With a loud whoop, Tithonus grabbed his wife by the waist and lifted her high up while she squealed in surprise. Their lips met. The other men in the room rolled their eyes, two of them even fanning the air around them with their papers.

"Our second child," Tithonus said. "Father will be overjoyed."

Capella smiled wider. "All of the Hall of Spirits should know this."

"As will the Hall of Shadows!" The both of them exited the chamber, their hands clasped around each other in an unbreakable bond.

The white castle changed into a barren land where everything coughed blood and fire. Acrid smoke wafted about, like snakes slithering past dead bodies. The pitiful cries of the wounded filled the air. A very familiar young man was seen charging into the smoke. His horse whinnied in defiance as another rider came galloping out of the chaos. He too had a sword, but this rider had no face—a skeleton wearing a metal helmet—Death.

The first rider turned around, his eyes finding Cady's.

Cady stumbled backwards in shock as she recognized the rider.