Sillion leaned his head closer to the door, initially feeling like the person would soon be right up against the door.
However, he quickly came to realise that for some reason, the footsteps didn't seem to be moving at all, as if the person was walking in place and also, the noble heir couldn't quite tell what it was but something else seemed wrong about them.
He walked to his right, hoping to see who it was that was the source of those footsteps and perhaps call out to them this way.
One step at a time, he moved, noticing that he could still hear the footsteps just as clearly as before despite moving from his initial position, he thought that it was weird but this oddity didn't deter him from finding out who was doing this.
He got to the window, pressed his hands against the glass and prepared to lean forward to look inside.
'Now, who are you?' he thought as he scanned the inside for a few moments.
"What do you think you are doing?" a voice suddenly asked from behind him, causing to fall all over himself and stumbled back, falling on his butt.
This voice had interrupted him just has he had caugth a glimpse of what looked like a shadowy figure, he quickly stood back up and turned to face the woman behind him.
Realising that his heart was beating at an intense pace, this couldn't just be from the fright he had just had, his heart had pumping like cray for long than this and he had somehow failed to notice, he hadn't been stressed or scared before this however.
Sillion shook his head, focusing on the person in front of him, a blonde woman with fairly short hair compared to what he was used to, she was wearing an ample shirt and overalls, she had dirt stains all over her, especially on her knees and gloves.
Considering that she was holding some sort of small shovel, he could only guess that she had been gardening and just came from the back or side of the house.
She looked quite angry, pissed off in fact, Sillion felt like that if he didn't find an absolutely oustanding answer, she would be stabbing him with that shovel of hers.
Since there were at least ten meters separating them for now, Sillion raised his hands, urging her not to move any closer, she looked pretty thin and small but he could just feel something from her that made him feel on edge.
"Listen, I am sorry for trespassing but I really need to talk with the doctor that lives here!" he said defensively, seeing that this woman was already in the position to throw the small gardening shovel at him.
He didn't know much about the dynamics of throwing weapons and tools but it certainly looked like she was aiming for his forehead with remarkable accuracy.
She didn't seem very willing to have a conversation but Sillion was determined.
"Malina right? Venec told me about you and Ithelisemou, I just need to know a few things and then I'll be on my way!" he explained, thinking that maybe citing names would help his case.
It seemed to somewhat work as Malina dropped her throwing posture but she was still looking at him as if was a child playing in a pool of mud on the street.
"Venec? That homeless excuse of a bandit? His name doesn't have any worth here but go ahead, what is it that you want to know? I'll answer and then you'll leave" she said as she walked up to the door near him and opened it, stepping inside.
She didn't actually tell him to follow or did as much as a sign but Sillion concluded that he was supposed to do just that.
He awkwardly entered the house, surprised at how much colder the air was compared to the outside, enough for him to comment on it.
"It's just how she likes it" responded Malina pensively as she looked up into the darkness of the upstairs for few seconds.
"Anyways, be quick, I thought she was sitting outside but maybe not after all..." Malina seemed a bit nervous about something but it was nothing too important it seemed as she simply sighed and shook her head.
"Is the doctor not here?" he asked quizzically.
"Unfortunately not..." she said longingly.
Sillion felt a bit uncomfortable, clearly noticing something about her tone.
He scratched the back of his head embarrassingly before just changing the subject and pulling the drawing of his brother, hoping to be done with this soon so that he could just leave.
"Was he a patient? I don't work with Theli on his medicinal stuff, never seen this guy before, just go get a room at the inn in town and wait for my husband to come back, I'll tell him you came by" she suggested and just as Malina suggested this, Sillion took this as his cue to make his escape from this place he had originally entered without permission.
"Very well th-" he turned around to leave but someone was standing in the way and immediately he froze, firstly because that was objectively frightening but mostly due to the fact that he genuinely couldn't move at the sight of her.
He felt his heart taking a prolonged beat as it got larger and larger, causing intense pain in his chest, the same thing was happening to his lungs, as he failed to both circulate oxygen and intake it, his vision grew blurry and his ears rung.
"Crap..." he muttered lowly as he stumbled back, falling with back flat on the floor.
Slowly but surely, darkness filled his vision as he heard what sounded like two voices speaking to one another but at this point, he couldn't make any details or words.
He was quickly engulfed in the sea of darkness, sinking deeper and deeper, up until no light remained.