Edited: May, 19, 2020

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Making a soft whooshing sound like a faraway breeze, the curtain swayed back and forth until it turned into a white wooden door. The door was wedged into a rock face that had moss growing in crevices.

"Is that Thereanbold's house?" Deel furrowed his eyebrows. It did seem likely, but Pinti was beginning to have doubts that someone in their sane mind could actually live here.

"I'm going. Maybe." Deel walked up to the door and just stood in front of it. "Okay, I'm knocking!" He announced and raised a fist in the air. "Knocking!" His voice squeaked with nerves.

Before he could knock, the door opened inwards without a sound. Deel jumped backwards and fell on his butt. Inside was a pine forest and a dark gray sky with white wispy clouds. Chandeliers hung off branches and on the forest floor, a room was set up. Old chairs with rundown red velvet seats stood along the sides of an old wooden table. It was like a banquet had been prepared and forgotten about for decades.

"Whoa, look!" Deel shouted and took a step inside. The door began to close. With a jolt she sprang in, just squeezing inside after him. It nearly slammed on her tail. Panting and catching her breath to slow her fast beating heart she searched for Deel and found him on the side leaning against nothing.

"What is... What?" Pinti blinked and rubbed her eyes. There was nothing behind him. Tentatively, she reached out and felt something like a stone wall under her paw. Galag had talked about invisible things. Was this one of them?

"I'm leaning on nothing that exists." Deel grinned and stretched his arms up putting his full weight on the invisible wall. Behind him was the pine forest.

With a tinkle of glass hitting glass, a chandelier came down hanging from nothing. When it stopped to suspend in the air, a wooden plank with a golden rim dropped before it. Although the chain that held it up was invisible, Pinti could hear a metal chain clanking as a light wind swirled around them and the plank. Golden lettering gradually appeared as if someone was burning the words into the wood.

"Returning Impassable," came a low thundering voice. It echoed in her head, numbing all her senses. The sugary scent returned then. Pinti felt compelled to close her eyes and focus on that scent. Images of apple pie, sugar cookies, custard pudding, and chocolate brownies appeared in her mind. Licking her chops, she became aware of a soft velvet carpet beneath her feet. She opened her eyes, but there were only pine needles scattered on dirt ground with small pinecones littered all over.

When she lifted her head, Deel was standing before one of the chairs, talking with someone. She could tell it was a pleasant conversation with the way he smiled and put one hand on his hip, casually leaned back on his leg and acting quite normal for him.

"Pinti," a male voice called her name. She whipped her head around but there was no one there. "Pinti," he said again. "Would you like a seat?"

A seat? Where? She stared at the battered chair before her for only a few seconds when it's washed red velvet deepened. Soon, all around her was a luxurious parlor. Chandeliers shimmered in sunlight. A large rectangular marble table was piled with sweets. Her eyes gravitated to the chocolate cake and she breathed in the warm, rich scent of chocolate, filling her lungs with the aroma.

"Pinti."

A tiger-like Halfhuman wearing a black tux with frilled cuffs was offering her a seat at the marble table, right in front of a whole chocolate cake. The scent of perilla wafted into her nose. Instead of fear or frightful memories, comfort enveloped her—something she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Take a seat. Enjoy yourself." The Halfhuman tiger-like said with a kind smile and the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I know you like chocolate." He grinned. A golden butterfly pin sat on his lapel. On his waist was a sword in a decorative sheath.

"Thank you." Her own voice was like a faraway sound. "I very much do."

Although somewhere in her mind, she knew this wasn't real, and the words of the Pawn Woman whispered in her head telling her she would never escape the parlor once she sat down. Still, Pinti found herself making her way to the seat. She rested her paw on the chair's arm, feeling a smooth wooden surface. Curling her tail around her, she bent forward to sit, when something got in the way—a large bag she carried over her shoulder. Pinti jerked away from the chair remembering the task at paw.

"The Scepter of Tamido, I must find it. I can't stay," she said to the tiger-like Halfhuman. His eyes saddened and he let out a long sigh.

"But please, just a bite? I had it made especially for you."

"For me?"

"Just for you, Pinti." He smiled and all thoughts of the scepter were washed away. She only thought of sitting and indulging in the chocolate cake. A whole one to herself? She hadn't had that in all her years in Bairenshire City. Certainly, she could enjoy a bit, couldn't she?

"Embrace the magick." The Halfhuman whispered into her ear. "Eternal peace is what you seek. That is right here. Just have a seat, Pinti. Let us talk over chocolate cake and perilla tea."

It sounded so true to her ears. She bent forward again. The back of her legs touched the rim of the seat when the lights went off. Startled, she jerked up, swiveling her head around. The chair and table were gone, and an indigo smoke came toward her. It smelled of coffee and milky cream.

The temperature dropped and she shivered, wrapping her tail around herself to keep warm. The smoke just hung there in front of her when a black silhouette flashed briefly within. Curiosity sent her fear away and she reached a paw out.

In a burst, the smoke cleared, and a black paw grabbed hers. "Come, young Kathula. You must get away from here!" A female voice hissed in urgency much like an angry Kathula. "Hurry!" She pulled Pinti who stumbled after.

Confusion muddled her mind. She was just about to sit with the Halfhuman and enjoy some chocolate cake.

"Where are you taking me? I have to go back!" Pinti said, struggling against the tight grip.

When she sniffed the air, her heart skipped a beat. It was the distinct sour stench of an Edgling. She tried to yank her paw away, but the Edgling held on.

"Heizak, let go of me! Let go!" Pinti unsheathed her claws but the Edgling kept dragging her away from where she was.

They came to the edge of the darkness that faded out into a pine tree forest. Pinti widened her eyes in shock at herself for forgetting why she was here. She couldn't stay for cake. She had to leave and find the scepter.

"I have them in a shadow," the Edgling let her paw go at last. "They can't see you now. You must leave here while you can."

Pinti scoffed. "And I'm supposed to believe you're not going to hunt me down, Edgling?"

The Edgling turned around. She was in the form of a purple Kathula with black paws.

"Hunt you? Why would I do that? I wouldn't stand a chance!" the Edgling raised her voice as if in disbelief. "Besides," She dropped her voice, hanging her head, "I can't leave the parlor. For centuries I've been trapped here."

"Trapped? In the parlor, you mean?" Pinti kept a safe distance from the Edgling.

The Edgling nodded. "The parlor is a place that is a creature. It eats the bodies of those who wandered this way and uses the slowly dying souls of the one's its eaten to lure more travelers in. I was one such curious, lost soul."

The Edgling frowned and cocked her head. "I feel your fear. I don't understand. Why are you afraid of me? I'm an Edgling, or the Shaa. Kathula never fear us. On the contrary we—"

"You're an Edgling." Pinti interrupted, getting annoyed. "Why wouldn't I be? My Saboteur is out to kill me. That's all you do. Kill, destroy. Thanks to you Kathula will go extinct. I'll get the scepter before you do, and you can't stop me!"

Determination swelled in her chest. "Get out of the way so that I can destroy you all! All you evil creatures."

"All of us? No, young Kathula," she said in a rush, "don't kill all of them. Only the king would be evil if at all. Not the entire race! Only—"

"Heizak! I'm not listening to the lies of an Edgling!" She couldn't believe what this Edgling was saying. Still she didn't move out of the way. Already the shadow around them was fading. When she glanced up, the ceiling of the parlor was beginning to show.

She's just playing me. No intent of helping me, of course not. Pinti growled deep in her throat and glared at the Edgling. She widened her eyes in shock. Tears moistened the Edgling's Kathula-form eyes.

"Listen, young Kathula, please," She sobbed and began to speak in a rush, "the king controls all. Edglings live on rules and regulations. Without them we go insane and die. But if the king is bad, we are forced to do bad things. Don't kill all Edglings. My siblings, my family, they will never know I am here, but they aren't evil! Not all Edglings are evil."

Her emotions pierced Pinti's chest. She could sense the thick almost syrupy sadness that enveloped the Edgling. But how could this be? In all her years living with Edglings, not once have they shown emotions. Even happiness, even anger, all of it was always an act. If it wasn't, Pinti could sense it like all Kathula could. She could sense sadness, fear, anger, and positive emotions, too.

"Who are you?" Who was this Edgling that had emotions?

"Nakiila," she said in a quiet voice. Her tears moistened her purple fur and she rubbed them away with her black paws. "I'm Nakiila." Tentatively, she stretched her paw to Pinti. There was something in it.

"You are the first Kathula I have seen since getting lost in here. That must mean something, right?" She bit her lip as it trembled. "Take this for me."

Pinti hesitated for a moment. Her whiskers quivered as the air around her changed and she could smell the chocolate cake again. The parlor was returning. Nakiila's eyes widened in alarm.

"Take this!" She thrust her arm forward and Pinti reached out to let an oval stone drop in her paw.

"This belonged to my mother," Nakiila whispered, "given to her by the only one she ever loved and who loved her back. Take it. I'm sure it will guide you." She began to fade. "Not all Edglings are evil as not all Kathula are frightening."

A hint of a smile stretched across her lips. "Right the world, young Kathula," she whispered and was gone.

Before Pinti could think of anything to say, a chorus of growls erupted all around her as the parlor disappeared and darkness surrounded her, blocking the way out. A chair appeared behind her.

"Sit, sit, sit," voices chanted. "Stay here and enjoy yourself."

Pinti shoved the stone in her pouch and searched for the sources of the voices, but she couldn't see anything. Feet stomped on a floor in a rhythm and drums followed shortly after. A whistling wind blew up against her face, pushing her around with such force, trying to make her sit in the chair.

Something latched onto her waist, pulling her downwards. Her legs met the chair rim. Yowling in frustration she struggled against the invisible straps. The chair glowed an ominous red and she smelled old metallic blood.

With a groan, she pulled herself forward using her claws to grip into the ground—the forest floor barely visible beneath the shadow. Desperately, she twisted her body, trying to snap away from whatever held her down, but it only dug into her skin.

"Heizak!" She yelled in frustration and tried to stand when her feet lifted from the ground. The straps pushed her up in the air. Arms and legs flailing, she tried to reach out, to find something, anything to hold on to.

"Sit, sit, sit," the voices continued to chant in her mind over and over. Her body was flung around like a doll and then with great force, the straps dragged her downwards and she knew, this was it. She could see the chair glowing in the shadows. A table with chocolate cake appeared in front of it.

"Sit, and enjoy yourself, Pinti," came the Halfhuman's voice. Pinti arched her back to try to escape from the seat, but a heavy hand pushed her chest. She strained against it, holding herself up and groaned in desperation to refuse the parlor. Soon, she couldn't keep this up any longer. Her feet slipped out from under her and her butt fell towards the chair. Voices cheered all around her.

They stopped cheering when Pinti's body became suspended again, just a hair's width or so above the seat. Her breathing came out in ragged gasps. She couldn't move at all.

A low, male's voice rose from the shadows. "Let her go you bastards!"

Azure light in ribbon swirls came before her and went around her waist. She didn't feel anything, except the straps loosening around her body. At the next moment, she was flung over the side of the chair and landed on something soft. She smelled the musky scent of wet leaves under her. Blinking, she turned back to see a tall dark blue Kathula male with a ball of fire in his paw and a silver chain in the other. From the chain dangled a glowing red stone.

"Deel?" She tried to see his face, but his head was turned towards shadowy Halfhuman figures that advanced. The shadows were melting behind them, exposing the parlor as it was—just old broken furniture in the middle of a forest.

With a collective roar the figures leapt at him in a single bound. He was soon covered and Pinti's heart raced when a burst of purple and orange light temporarily blinded her. It receded like a whispering breeze and the figures dissolved into a dark red mist that soon faded. All shadows disappeared. Voices scattered into the trees making leaves rustle.

The Kathula's bushy indigo tail billowed behind him as he glowed in an azure light. He turned to Pinti and waved his paw. Suddenly her eyelids felt heavy and she closed them.

Not too much time later, someone was shaking her awake. With a grunt, she opened her eyes to Human Deel grinning down at her

"No time for napping, Pinti. Let's find the next fun thing," he said began to walk away. She smelled a hint of lemongrass on him for a little while, but it soon faded away. Frowning, she was about to push herself up from the ground when she remembered the stone from Nakiila.

There it was still in her pouch. Now in a lighter place she could examine it more carefully. It was a smooth oval stone slightly opaque and with white and blue marbled colors in it. As she rubbed it with her thumb, an engraving slowly revealed itself, carving into the stone.

It was a runic symbol. The letter was 'A', but 'A' also stood for something else, yet Pinti couldn't remember what that was. When she looked up, Deel was already quite far ahead.

"Ugh, Deel! Wait for me!" Pinti shoved the stone in her mesh pouch and hurried after him. She shook her head out of sleep and tried to focus on where he was going. It would not be good to get lost in the Forest Crup. But as she followed his gray t-shirt, her thoughts kept wandering back to that Kathula male. What had she seen? What happened back there?

She would have asked Deel about it, but with the way he kept trying to walk backwards with a stupid grin on his face, made it obvious she probably wouldn't get an answer. All she could do was hope that sooner or later, she would find out.

If it's even important. She grimaced.

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Note: Picture above is inspiration for One Prestigious Parlor. Source is Flicker, but artist unknown.