Necromancy In D Minor ✔️

Sorrow's Accompaniment

Lyra frowned at Arietta's room door. Maybe telling Arietta she couldn't play hadn't been the right thing to do. It was bad enough that she had to miss so much school, and she couldn't hang out with them as much as she used to. Playing at the ball was probably the only thing she had to look forward to.

I should apologise. She'd gone to her friend to comfort her, and she'd done everything but.

"Did I play it right?" Tallis asked, cutting into her thoughts. He took a handful of dried fruit and stuffed then in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out like a squirrel's.

"Just keep practicing. I'll be right back." Lyra left him to stuff his face with snacks and went back to Arietta's room. No sound came from beyond the door. "Arietta? I'm sorry about what I said. I think you should be able to play at the ball with us." Silence ensued and a pang of fear made her gut quiver. "Arietta?"

She opened to door and was met with a little resistance. Beyond the threshold was a pile of books, paper and pencils on the floor, but no Arietta. She stepped over the mess. "Arietta? Now is not the time for games. We need to practice."

Lyra went to the bed, looked under and only found dust and forgotten shoes. Then her eyes fell on the opened closet. The clothes had been pushed aside, and as she stepped closer, she noticed the hole in the floor.

The quiver in her gut evolved into a frantic flutter. She fell to her hands and knees and peered into the hole, the stale air making her cough. Crates and boxes stood in stacks like pillars. The crate beneath the opening had a pair of boot prints impressed in its dusty surface.

"Arietta?" she called again. The hole looked big enough for her to get through. She lowered herself feet first and landed on the stack. More boot prints were on the next stack down and even more on the floor.

And they led to the shop's back door.

Lyra hurried down and followed the trail to the outside. "Arietta?" A blast of cold air whipped her across the face, making her eyes water. She squinted at the glare of the setting sun on the snow, putting a hand over her eyes as she scanned the yard. A line of tracks stretched before her, from the door to the edge of the yard and into the trees.

Oh no. Oh no. This was her fault. Arietta was upset, and she only made it worse. Now her friend was gone. Into the forest with the netherborne. She looked back at the shop, debating whether she should get help. Arietta couldn't have gotten far. Lyra could find her and bring her back before anyone noticed.

She eased the door shut and followed the trail of boot prints through the snow. Which each step she took, the fluttering in her stomach worsened. The frozen trees stood like wooden monsters, their gnarled hands beckoning her into danger.

An icy draft curled around her as she left the safety of the barrier. Her boots crunched through snow tinged blue by twilight, the noise sounding like thunder in her ears. Images of monsters stomping through the trees filled her head. Grotesque distortions of animals with sharp claws and glowing eyes.

I have to hurry. Arietta's trail went as far as she could see into the trees. Lyra quickened her walk to a jog. Her mind conjured images of her friend, lost and scared and injured. "Arietta!" She twisted her head every which way, examining every tree and snowdrift. "Arietta!"

The cold air sank into her skin and made her lungs burn, and she cursed herself for not going back for her coat. She'd underestimated Arietta. It seemed her friend was determined to get away from the village.

Slowly the shadows melded into one another and the twilight grew darker and dimmer to welcome the night. Just as Lyra was about to lose all hope of finding her friend, a splash of colour entered her vision.