The wind howled outside, the rain blowing through the open windows resting upon the castle walls only to slick the floor within. Thunder roared overhead, the gods angered by some irreparable sin the people below had caused. Lightning lit up the world in a bright white flash, revealing all the sin and evil hidden within the shadows of the night. Nothing was safe from the storm as it tore through the kingdom with such a violent force, it giving no mercy to anyone trapped within its watery grasp. 

Quietly and unmoved by the storm outside of the unsteady castle walls, a young woman with long white hair and pale lavender eyes made her way through the rain slicked hallways. A candle lit lantern was held delicately within one hand, lighting the darkened hallways with a dim orange glow. Her footsteps were carefully placed, thought out and slow as if stuck in a trance-like state. Her whole appearance made her look like an ethereal ghost walking the hallways, ready to haunt her next victim. 

Amoray Shadowven had been woken from her nightly slumber, not by the storm raging outside, but as if someone had been calling out to her by name. Someone deep within the walls of the castle, coaxing her from bed and to wherever they wanted her to go. Danger didn't seem to be a thought that had ever crossed her mind. Instead, the voice that coaxed her from her deep slumber drover her curiosity, urging her to find its owner and what the person was truly wanting from her. 

Amoray's feet carried her through the hallways and straight to a large wooden door. Instead of being the aged brown with iron supports the rest of the castle had, this door was pitch black as if a fire had charred the wood, leaving behind its shadowed remains. Even the thin iron supports that were bolted to the face of the door had become blackened by some unknown force. 

Carefully, Amoray reached out for the rusted door handle with her free hand, small droplets of water falling from her damp porcelain flesh. The rain that managed to slip through the open windows had taken refuge upon her skin and clung to her white nightgown that she wore, dampening it and allowing it to cling to her every delicate curve. Her petite frame visible for all who happened to lay eyes upon her entranced figure, leaving little to the imagination of those that have done so. 

As her fingers wrapped around the rusted door handle, Amoray was quick to pull it back. Something, possibly the chipped and rusted door hand, had pricked her palm drawing small droplets of blood from her new little injury. The crimson droplets fell upon the handle, seeming to suck it as if it were a porous sponge. The door slowly opened to reveal it's mysterious interior to her. 

Darkness. 

Nothing could be seen within, even Amoray's lantern couldn't penetrate the shadows that stretched out before her. The lightning outside did little to aid in her attempts to see within the room. The darkness seeming to swallow up any form of light that had tried to enter its confines. Even as she took a couple of careful and hesitant steps into the doorway, she still couldn't see anything that rested within the room. It was as if the darkness stretched out infinitely, the room never ending. The darkness appeared to be the only occupant that was within and would remain that way regardless of what anyone tried to do. 

Never had she seen such a room. Though, now that she thought about it, she didn't think the castle had a room as such. She had never seen this room in all the years she had lived there, she should know, growing up in that very castle since she was no more than a wailing infant she had seen most if not all of the castle. 

"Would you like to know what's down there?" 

"Yes. . ." 

Amoray's head snapped up, a gasp leaving her lips while the lantern she held dropped from her grasp. The glass from the lantern shattered near her feet, forcing Amoray to jump back away from the shards, not wanting to get cut by the pieces scattered around. Her body stiffened and her eyes were wide with absolute terror, something was behind her. It wasn't physical, the darkness making it impossible to tell exactly what it was that stood at her back. However, she knew something was behind her by the icy chill that penetrated through her thin damp nightgown. 

"Who are. . ." 

Forcing herself to turn around, Amoray was immediately stopped by the icy grip upon her upper arms. Shivers ran through her as the thought of possibly standing in Death's presence raced through her mind. The very thought causing her heart to hammer at an alarming rate within her chest. 

"I wouldn't do that, you wouldn't like it." 

Amoray stayed still, the cold hold upon her arms tightening making her extremely aware of how bony and icy the person's hands truly were. She could only nod her head, too terrified to move from where she currently stood. The shattered glass from the lantern left forgotten on the stone ground in front of her. Even the storm raging outside had become forgotten, the sound of it dulled by the soft breathing within her ear and the loud pounding of her racing heart. 

"So, you said you wanted to know what was down there?" 

Amoray stood quiet, her voice stuck within her throat, unable to voice her response. Her silence seeming to irritate whatever was holding onto her, it's commanding voice breaking her from the fear induced silence that had taken over her. 

"Speak girl!" 

"Yes, yes I do want to know." 

The breathy chuckle that followed her quick confirmation left her skin prickling with goosebumps. Amoray was tempted to turn around, face the chilling entity that stood behind her and tell it who was truly the boss there. However, its earlier warning had her remaining firmly in place, even as its bony hold on her arms diminished. 

"Then why not take a step through the thresh hold and find out?"

"Why don't you tell me what's down there and save me the trip into the unknown?" 

The person's coaxing voice had left Amoray rather uneasy. The fact they were pushing for her to enter was beginning to dissuade her from actually going inside. She didn't know what rested within those shadows and didn't want to risk her own life just to find out. It was becoming quite the perplexing thought, added in, she realized she could have easily cried out for help. Though, who would hear her over the violent storm outside, she couldn't say. 

Another shiver rushed down Amoray's spine when a frozen breeze blew gently upon her skin. The sigh had come from the entity behind her, the very thing leaving her uneasy and rather uncomfortable at the closeness. It was as if personal space had never been a concept taught to the thing speaking to her, urging her towards somewhere she was having second thoughts about. 

"Now, what would be the fun in doing that? Finding out on your own will be far more exciting. It would be quite. . . the adventure." 

Amoray could hear the smirk that was on the entity's face, if the thing even had a face to begin with. She couldn't be certain since she had never seen the person. Regardless, she did agree with what the entity was saying and a new adventure sounded rather exciting. The possibility of what was hidden within the unending shadows was infinite. The very thought of it had intrigued her quite a bit, making her rethink going inside yet again. 

"What are you waiting for? Excitement and adventure awaits you, girl." 

Excitement and adventure. 

Amoray took her first step towards the darkness, careful and calculated as she entered the room before her. 

Darkness enveloped her, taking her senses from her within an instant. The glass that lay shattered in front of her crunched and cracked beneath her feet with each step that she took. Crimson footprints were left behind her as she seemed to fade into the darkness of the room like a ghost in the shadows. The pain the shattered glass should have caused upon her now cut feet had gone completely unnoticed, like she couldn't feel what was truly happening to her. All her senses wiped from her being the further she walked into the room, but that's when she heard it. 

Stopping just within the doorway, Amoray slowly turned and glanced over her shoulder as a low growl came from behind her. To her surprise, nothing stood where she once had been. The storm that was causing such a ruckus outside had fallen silent despite still raging on upon the kingdom. That realization had her eyes once more widening in surprise and utter shock. Never did she think it possible for her to lose all her sense of hearing, touch, even her sight seemed to slowly be fading within the darkness around her. 

"Goodbye, girl." 

The once breathy voice was now dark and gravely. Nothing was there to even speak, the hallway she once stood in was empty to her ever vision fading eyes. 

Another gasp escaped from her lips the moment the door slammed shut on her, trapping Amoray within the overwhelming darkness. Her hand was outstretched as if to try and stop the door, failing to do so only when the floor gave out from underneath her. She was sent tumbling into the infinite darkness, her terror filled screams going unheard, smothered by the shadows that rested on every side of her. Tears flew from her eyes, her hands grasping the air around her as if her fingers could find a rope or ledge to stop her sudden plummet into the unknown. 

A fall straight into oblivion. 

Amoray continued falling, her body eventually crashing into water that broke her fall. Splashing back first had forced the air straight from her lungs making it difficult to breath once her head broke the surface of the unsettled waters. Her arms flailing about while she kicked her legs, trying to stay afloat on the surface. The waves that pounded atop her head were making it a very difficult task to even do so. 

Panic was beginning to set in, the fear of perishing within the unknown found its home deep within her mind. Thoughts of giving up weighing heavily upon her entire being while the waves pushed, pulled and carried Amoray through whatever body of water she had fallen into. The struggle to keep her head above the waves beginning to prove more of a struggle for her than she ever thought it could be. As darkness seeped into her vision, consciousness was beginning to fade at an alarming rate. Even so, Salvation shined before her as refuge on land appeared within her fading vision. 

The waves pushed Amoray up onto the wet sand of a dark deary beach. It was almost as if the unsteady waves had heard her silent plea to live, to return back to land and the safety it brought with it. She gasped for air, laying upon her stomach with the side of her face resting within the sand. All of her energy seeming to have been sapped from her struggles to stay afloat and not drown within the violent waves behind her. 

Her white hair stuck to her face, her nightgown soaked and clinging to her tiny trembling frame. Slowly, Amoray planted her hands upon the soft grainy earth, using the last of her strength to push herself onto her hands and knees. She crawled no more than a couple of steps away from the waters that lapped at her feet, reaching for her as if to drag her back within their depths. 

She collapsed back onto her stomach, staring to the side as she tried to catch the breath that left her earlier. Tears were mingling with the water droplets that already dripped down her face and off her body, the darkness once more trying to claim her into unconsciousness. The only difference from last time, she allowed it to claim her. She saw no reason to fight it at this time, the unknown of where she was, was the furthest thought from her mind. Only exhaustion and allowing herself to rest crossed her mind. 

"I never thought. . . this would be. . . my end." 

As the final thought drifted through her mind, Amoray's pale lavender eyes drifted shut. Consciousness swiftly leaving her and the darkness once more claiming her, it looking no more than a sleeping girl on the chilled grainy sand.