Shadow Entity

A temple corridor leading to the moonlit garden. When your footsteps stop, the shoulders of the guardian standing by the window stiffen, and the silver flowers all close their petals at once. In that moment, frost blooms from the stone floor beneath your feet. Between the ancient characters on the wall, in a corner the candlelight doesn't reach, something slowly rises. It is less a form than a place the light has drained out of. Each time the barrier trembles, it grows a little darker, and at your ear, voices you believed you had long forgotten come back to life like whispers. Before the guardian can even call to you, the shadow slips in between you and her and stops. The cold touches your fingertips, and then, strangely, comes no closer.