Thick dust plumes out the heavy doors as a circular guest room lies ahead. Many broken shelves sit lifelessly as soft light leaks from the windows above. Thin threads of silk branches between the low ceiling, draping towards the ground. Suddenly, a weight falls on my shoulder as a shadow looms over me.


    “Ah! It’s finally open. You know how long I have waited for this to happen?”


    I turn around to the Peddler’s sly grin towering over me. Taken aback, a few invisible threads snap, clinging to my skin.


    “What do you want?”


    I raise my quarterstaff up as the Peddler swings his hands up.


    “Ah, do not worry, dear customer. I don’t intend to harm you.”


    He approaches closer with heavy steps and lets out a sigh.


    “Where was it again?”


    The peddler drags his finger along the dust-coated shelves, searching through the nicks between the decor. Click! A loud noise echoes as shifting gears shakes the entire tower. Slowly, a pedestal emerges from the ground. Getting up from the odd position, the Peddler reaches into his bag and pulls out the odd clockwork ball.


    “Easy does it…”


    Placing the ball carefully on the pedestal, he takes a step back as noises fill the lifeless tower. Click click whir… Hidden gears shift between the walls as the floor rotates around and around. A pair of serpent-like stairs emerge from the ground.


    “Whoa…”


    I stare in awe as teal rays of light burst out of the ball. The peddler spins the ball around, rotating the beams of lights.  Etched runes reveal themselves on the walls.


    “Let’s see. This was the sequence I was entrusted with.”


    Suddenly, the lights come to a halt, locking in on a couple of runes. With three flashing lights, the tower glows green as wisps float to the top. A hidden door reveals itself between the cabinets.


    “Follow me”


    The Peddler gestures to me as we go through the door together. Stepping through, Frost runs across my cheek as I cover against the wind.


    “Bear with it.”


    His sharp words leak through his hideous grin. A lingering cold drapes on our shoulders as we walk down the chilly corridor. Soon we arrived in front of a creaky door.


    “This is where I stop. Go in, please.”


    His voice quivers slightly as he stands, unfazed by the brittling cold. With a slight nod and heavy inhale, I grip the frozen handle and swing the door open.


    A lone figure sits on an abandoned throne. It was as if time froze around him. Caught between the snow and icicles hanging on the shelves. Approaching closer, I take a good look at his aged face. He resembled the Peddler, but there was only exhaustion there. Gone was that silly grin that sent shivers up my spine.


    “hello?”


    I ask this odd, ancient figure resting on the throne. Suddenly, vacuum pulls me in. I slip and fall to the ground as my hands drag on the sharp, cold ground. Blood trickles out my palm, mixing with the snow. Drip, A bloody snowflake lands on the figure’s face as a sudden blue flame combusts on his cheek. The fire engulfs his motionless form as a radiating heat consumes the frost off the walls. Creak pop pop! The figure''s joints pop as he attempts to get off the chair.


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    “Ah…”


    He looks down at me with hollow eyes. As if eternity had slipped away from his grasp.


    “You…”


    he points his bony finger towards me as I get off the ground. Slumping back on his throne, he lets out a heavy sigh and closes his eyes.


    “This is a farce! To think I’d be brought back to this hell!”


    He lets out a guttural chuckle as tears run down his cheek. It was as if the chair was tying him down as he tried to get up again. Invisible threads snap behind him as he falls down one more.


    “Quit standing there like a mannequin and help me out!”


    Without much thought, I head over and help him stand.


    “Who are you anyways?”


    I ask as we head out the door. Looking around, the Peddler was no longer there. Where did he go?


    “I’m Quiliff. I was once king of this world! Until it all burned to the ground.”


    A look of disappointment and anger morphs his face around as he lowers his head down.I Shrug as we walk through the narrow corridor.


    A nauseating silence clings to the guest room as we approach the pedestal. Whir, the ball pivots around, illuminating the endless runes on the walls. Suddenly the ground rumbles as we ascend upward. With a screeching halt, we stop between many doorways.


    “Go there”


    He points at a door with a black knob. Heading over, I push open the heavy wooden door as a dark room awaits us.


    “Let’s see…”


    He inhales deeply, as if the air itself was a drink. One, two, three, Four… twelve blue wisps illuminate the room covered in paper. Rusted red circles were drawn on each page. In the center of the room,  A lone glass bulb hangs low on a string above a chair. Pushing off my shoulder, Quiliff wobbles towards the chair. Taking the seat, he sits upright and looks towards me.


    “Close the door and keep your eyes on me. Or else it won’t end well.”


    I tilt my head in curiosity, before sighing and shrugging it aside.


    With the door firmly shut, a silent hum fills the air. Tick… Tick… A metronomic beat pulses between the walls. With a loud inhale, a rushing current of wind flows throughout the room. Suddenly, the blue wisps vanish as the room blinks into darkness. Click, buzz… the glass bulb flickers to life, emitting a cool white light.


    A light hangs above a lonely chair


    As the walls vanish away into the darkness


    Tha-dump Tha-dump


    A blinking heart flickers


    Calling into the swirling abyss


    Whir… Like an unraveling thread, a single silver light beams upward into the darkness. Click! With a winding halt, the lonely thread hovers around, swaying like a blade of grass against the wind. Quiliff tilts his head upward, gazing into the void with hazy eyes.


    Reaching an arm out into the abyssal sea, many thin silvery threads pop into existence. Swirling like shooting stars across the night sky.


    “What’s happening?”


    I ask the lonesome Quiliff, fixated on the ever-folding waves between the endless lights.


    “I’m starting anew”


    With a sudden twist from his frail hand, the threads coil around the pillar of light. The lines extend outward like an intricate web constellating into the abyss. With a powerful grasp at the darkness above, the lights blink in and out. The room starts to rumble, as if a sudden storm pelts the surrounding walls. Snip! The pillar of light detaches itself and flies into the sky, carrying each branching thread with it.


    In the air of silence, the lightbulb flickers in and out as the lonesome Quiliff closes his eyes.


    For the world that forgot, for the world that remembered. I will return from the nothingness once more.


    Words float around him like a never-ending mantra.Suddenly, a stray line extends from my chest and attaches itself to Quiliff. A look of horror fills his face,


    “No… this cannot be!”


    He desperately grabs at the air as the thread clanks to a halt.


    “Why did it have to be you of all things? How did you even manage to return?”


    I step back in confusion as he tumbles onto the ground. Snip! I collapse on my weight and fall, slipping into a dream…