It had been so long, too long, since last he had traversed this realm. Even in this ethereal form the world made way for his presence. Shadows wrapped around him, casting haunting images on scarcely lit walls. The sounds of the wind chasing fallen leaves through the streets warped into haunting whispers. The murmurs stilled as parents ran into the room of their screaming child, offering false reassurances that there were no such thing as monsters; that the long fingers they had seen stretching across towards their bed were nothing more than the moon"s light playing tricks through the heavy branches of the surrounding trees. Yet they too would startle when the wind began anew, sending the tree branches to claw at the windows as if to gain entry.
Íkelos watched from darkened paths and shado
