"Birkala, you know Erik does not wish you tampering with these forbidden things!" she chided, and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder.
At her touch, the powerful attractive force drained from Birkala in a rush. Released, he staggered back and fell against the opposite wall of the corridor.
But Spira was yanked into the black room like a filing to a magnet, and vanished utterly.
When Spira left him to go into the house, Erik sat for a few moments, studying his unfinished canvas critically. Now, an arc of pure orange there, a trace of subdued green there....
A disturbing current intruded from the outer fringes of his mind, that still undeveloped realm of precognition. There was something ... something was to happen ... to Spira!
He rose in haste, and strode swiftly into the house.
He encountered the hunchback sneaking from the direction of the bedroom. At sight of him, Direka broke into an awkward trot toward the front door. There was something in his face that made Erik speed his steps.