READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 VOL 2 ISSUE 3 OCTOBER 2014 | Page 77

In the dark recesses of the cavernous
basement, flickering candlelight played with
the shadows cast around the room. Eric
moved through the motions he'd studied for
the past year. He whispered an incantation.
“Adah solicani dusio. Abrami solis verdana.”
The words swirled around him like the
smoke of an ancient Indian war
signal. They spiraled,
encircling his body,
shooting up
through a
vent in
the rocky
ceiling.
The sweet
rose water
scent oozing
from the
flaming candles
tickled his nose.
He scrunched it
to relieve the
discomfort.
“Dulisio mordicani
andahit.” He moved his
body in harmony to the
chant's cadence. The
expressions, strange and
difficult, were alluring and
hypnotizing even to him.
Had an hour passed, a minute?
He'd lost all sense of time,
pursuing the arduous work he
had studied hard to master. He
wouldn't know the result right away.
Therefore he needed to keep alert.
His “father” had used the same
incantation once before, but had
forbidden him to try because of its
complexity and the need for precise
details. Only one wrong syllable and the
outcome would be uncertain…even
disastrous. He smirked. Since the man
wasn't his real father, why should he follow
his overly cautious advice?
The room filled with thick fog, making it
difficult to see. As the white smoke seeped
into the ceiling and through the vent, black
appendages snaked down toward him,
slithering, curling. An acrid scent of burned

wood replaced the annoying rose water
aroma. Eric stopped moving while silky
strands engulfed him, forming a tight,
tra
nslucent cocoon. His heart beat
faster, but he had no time for fear.
“Adai columbarih andath doluri.”
Though muffled, he continued,
his chant rising to the ceiling
before the cocoon exploded
into a million pieces like a
shattered mirror. Each shard
puffed into dust as it hit the
ground,.
Breathing heavily, his
movements slowing,
he doubled over,
dropping to the cold
floor. His mind
drifted to the time
when he pushed
Mona down the
stairs. Uncle
Richard had
rushed her
to the
hospital,
but Eric
knew
she'd
died.
Col
d

and
stiff, his
body
twitched a few
times before slipping
into what he thought must
be a semi-catatonic state.

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