A LOUD SCRATCH OF TINDER echoed into the vast halls of the Tower, booming far louder in the large empty vestibule. At the strike of the matchwood, a spurt of flame flickered. Large hands cradled the sputtering fire, shielding it against the mild stirring wind. Soon, the flames beamed higher, branching out into a languid burst of orange light.
The large hands moved away and the pale yellow light cast into the handsome face gleaming down at it. Pure silver eyes glinted like a liquid mirror in the flames.
"Grab a torch!" Esabel's voice sounded out in the darkness of the silent hall.
The noise of shuffling feet soon went reverberating into the darkness.
"Can't you be quiet about it?" Esabel's whispered with a scowl.
A deeper voice immediately met her annoyed tone, in equal pitch.
"It's dark as a troll's bottom in here," Hemlock growled. "How do you expect me to move slower if I can't see anything?"
