"Aredria has many a paradox, but none are more perplexing, or dangerous, than the Skiryks. They shimmer and float, more fragile than a fading dream, seemingly incapable of holding a recognisable form for more than the briefest of moments. And yet to strike them is like attempting to beat entherium steel with a wooden spoon. They move so slowly, yet they traverse the length and breadth of the city they haunt within minutes. And their fingers - they don't even appear to touch their victims, yet they cut like razors." - (Excerpt from "Eyewitness Account" - Author Unknown)

About halfway between Andrina's cottage and the Pure Magick shop, Loganberry also noticed the dramatic change in the cloud formations. As it was night time, they weren't easily visible, but when the moon sneaked out temporarily from behind the clouds, it clearly illuminated the bizarre spiral shape they had formed - a violent, twisted vortex whose centre was a long way off, somewhere over the distant fields north of Phoenixbrook. The vortex was turning, almost imperceptibly slowly, edging ever nearer to the city.

The rabbit knew instantly what this signified. Trouble. Big trouble - a point hammered home when a recorded message began to echo down the dimly lit, lonely streets, emanating from each and every one of the Phoenixbrook information access points. Over and over it warned of the vital need to head indoors as quickly as possible and to ensure all doors and windows were securely shut. Loganberry was all too familiar with that message, having heard it many times before over the years, and was instead concentrating on hurrying along the snowy streets.

And then his mobile phone rang.

On the other end was Eliki, telling him urgently, "You've got to get back here! You need to get off the streets quickly!"

A ferocious wind howled down the street, forcing Loganberry to turn his back to it as he yelled into the phone, "I'm nearer to the shop now than I am to Andrina's home. Don't worry, I'll make it back with plenty of time to spare, I promise." Reluctantly but reassured, Eliki ended the call and Loganberry quickened his pace, confident of reaching the safety of the shop before the Skiryks arrived.

At least that was what he truly believed, until the wind intensified to such an extent that he had no choice but to retreat into a side street. The gale whipped up the loose snow, turning it into an impassable blizzard. Temporary or not, this was costing him time that he simply did not have.

The announcements continued relentlessly, while across the city people rushed indoors by whatever means possible, busily locking windows and doors, and checking that the security systems were fully active.

The Skiryks were one of Aredria's most bizarre and feared manifestations. Although their appearances were rare, the pattern was often the same. With the source appearing to be somewhere deep in the northern fields of Inclene, the sky darkened into ferocious storm clouds that slowly took on that spiral formation, which even now moved unstoppably towards the city. If anyone had had the courage to look, they would have seen at ground level, what appeared to be a small band of figures approaching, below the centre of the spiralling clouds. The atmosphere within the city became noticeably charged and oppressive, creating a feeling of dread and terror in many of Phoenixbrook's inhabitants, as they scurried for shelter.

For, if you were indoors within a secure locked building, the Skiryks never crossed that threshold. Once in the city, they would begin to roam the streets. If you were unfortunate enough to be outside at that point and crossed their path (and inevitably you would) you did not survive. There were no exceptions.

Equally without exception, everyone feared the Skiryks, and even now Jarret bolted the doors to the Burrow, while Ailee lowered strong metal grills down over the windows. Even now, Andrina tugged the curtains across each of the cottage windows, with help from Leana, while Eliki activated the security system, which ensured every door and window was completely sealed.

The Skiryks had also become known, among certain circles, as the Lost Children. Nobody remembered why, or had any intention of finding out the reasons from the only beings that might have known - the Skiryks themselves. Similarly, just what purpose their brief and unwanted visits held was also a total mystery. Maybe they were searching for something, or maybe it was just plain maliciousness that drove them, but the people of Phoenixbrook weren't so much bothered about why the Skiryks plagued their city, as long as they left again swiftly.

Loganberry cursed under his breath. He rarely swore, but somehow the situation seemed to demand it. The blizzard continued to tear past the entrance to the side street he was currently trapped in. The thought that, in a few short minutes, it would simply be too late to make it back to the shop before the Skiryks arrived, worried him sick. Often the Skiryks made their presence known very late at night, when practically everyone would have been indoors already, or in broad daylight, when it was far easier to look for the signs that announced their approach. In all these years this was the first time Loganberry had ever been caught outside like this. To make matters worse, this particular street contained almost nothing but shops, and unlike Loganberry, the owners had opted not to use the upper floors as flats. There was no chance of hammering on a random door in the hope of obtaining shelter.

The warning announcements from the information points suddenly ceased, leaving a silence that was almost overwhelming. Seconds later, as if a giant spotlight was being waved slowly back and forth over the entire city, a blue-purple light illuminated everything casting strange shadows in all directions. Loganberry felt his heart hammering - the Skiryks were in the city. It was impossible to judge just how far away they were, and unfortunately it was irrelevant. With the Skiryks, all the normal rules simply didn't apply - it was as though they could be anywhere at any time, moving faster than anyone could follow.

The silence was broken by a very distant, almost ambient, wailing sound, steadily increasing in volume. A dozen voices, then a hundred, then more still, crying out in anguish, terror, contempt, pity, constantly changing and trying its utmost to tear sanity to shreds. Worse, from what little research he had been able to do, Loganberry suspected the Skiryks could sense the presence of anyone still outside, homing in on their exact location.

Abruptly the blizzard dropped away. Maybe it was caused by the presence of the Skiryks. Maybe not. Loganberry didn't care. This was the chance he needed, so he ran with all the speed his legs could manage, slipping a few times but quickly regaining his balance. Less than two minutes later he had reached Timeless Street. About halfway down, among the many other old fashioned shops, was the extremely welcome sight of his Pure Magick store.

But there, at the end of the street, illuminated in the sweeping purple light that enveloped Phoenixbrook, stood a figure - for want of a better word, since its form was difficult to define as it wafted like smoke in a breeze. The apparition was impossibly thin and gaunt, the features too vague to make out.

Loganberry judged the distance quickly, fumbling with shaking paws for his key card. Despite his only making the tiniest sound, the distant figure heard - or maybe sensed - Loganberry and it turned to face him. There were no options left - Loganberry made for the door of his shop instantly. As soon as the creature 'saw' this movement, it immediately let out a long, continuous wailing that jolted every nerve in the rabbit's body. The Skiryk walked, shimmering as it did so, in no great hurry as it headed towards him. Despite its lack of any physical substance, Loganberry could clearly hear the distant crunch of footsteps in the snow, though it left no footprints at all.

Loganberry reached the ancient wooden door of his shop, whisking his key card through the electronic lock, holding his breath as he waited for the authorisation beeps. At the first beep, the approaching Skiryk was less than twenty metres away. At the second beep, several more Skiryks turned the corner of the street where the single one had been. And as the third beep sounded, an even larger crowd of the creatures appeared at the very spot Loganberry had been standing only moments earlier.

It seemed like an eternity before Loganberry heard the fourth and final beep, but finally the door clicked open. The Skiryk nearest to him began making an indescribable, guttural sound as it began to move far more rapidly. Loganberry hurtled through the door, into the shop, kicking back at it to slam the door shut and without pausing, diving at the control panel, which activated the locks.

The thought, "I made it, I made it," hammered through his head as he staggered back from the door, slumping into a leather chair in the consultation room - a choice made specifically because of the lack of windows, which meant he could avoid seeing the terrifying faces that accumulated outside his shop, accompanied by a baleful wailing. Somewhere at the back of his mind was the terrifying thought of just how narrowly he had beaten the odds. Nobody had ever been so close to the Skiryks before, intentionally or otherwise, and survived. At that exact moment, the last thing on Loganberry's mind was whether he would gain a place in the history books, following the night's events.

A short time later, around the same time Loganberry phoned Andrina's cottage to let them know he'd made it to the shop with literally seconds to spare, Jarret sat at one of the tables in the Burrow nightclub, continually throwing a dart into the air and watching it embed itself in the table surface. He plucked it out, only to do it again, and again. A few of the club's regulars were incarcerated in the locked up club, each with their own concerns about the situation outside.

Eventually Jarret stood up, flinging the dart at the club door for no obvious reason, before leaning on the counter, behind which Ailee stood with an unreadable expression. He grumbled to her, "First that messenger shows up, then we get our usual friendly visit from the Skiryks. Two for the price of one. What are the odds of that?"

While Jarret looked back towards the grill-protected windows, Ailee silently mouthed the rest of Jarret's sentence, knowing off by heart what he would say next. "I'm telling you, this whole damn city is going mad!"

There was silence for a time, before Jarret muttered quietly to Ailee, "And just where is Keryan?"

Ailee pointed skywards. "Asleep, in my bed, last time I looked."

"Asleep?" Jarret looked genuinely bemused. "Through this noise?"

"That's what I just said. Enigma is up there just in case she wakes."

Jarret sighed. "Surely you should be up there. If Keryan wakes, she'd want to know her mother was keeping watch over her."

"She's fine. She seems to cope with the Skiryks far better than you from the look of it. It's you I need to be keeping watch over down here, not her, and…"

The wailing outside intensified. Ailee stared at the grills. "Something's wrong…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, there was a loud bang, and each of the grills shot straight back up into their metal housing with a metallic rattle, leaving the windows bare. There, staring in but not focusing on anything specific, two of the Skiryks 'stood' - as did everyone in the club that hadn't been standing already, backing further away from the windows.

Jarret snarled impatiently, "Oh for crying out loud, they can't hurt you. As long as the windows and doors remain locked, they can't get in, you cowards!"

A tall skunk dressed from head to toe in black, pointed at Jarret and snapped back, "Yeah? Well if they can tear your security grills away from the windows, what makes you think they can't crack open a few panes of glass?"

Jarret glared and the skunk went silent. "I've had enough of this," the feline muttered, marching over to the windows. "Well?" he yelled at the near formless shapes that continued to stare in vacantly, not acknowledging him in the slightest. "What do you want? What the hell do you want? What the hell is the point of you? Answer me!"

The wailing changed to something more closely resembling a muffled scream. With a hint of panic, Ailee called out, "Jarret, get away from the windows."

"Hah" he snorted. "Why? They're just farts in the wind. Look at them. Just look at them. They're pathetic."

Now they acknowledged him. Both Skiryks turned to face Jarret, though it was impossible to read anything from their expressions. And then it was too late. They'd got him.

Jarret froze, unable or unwilling to move. The Skiryk nearest locked eyes with his, if indeed it actually had eyes, and just for fractions of a second the features appeared to rearrange into seemingly unconnected meaningless shapes - a goat skull with a single twisted horn, a green elephant deformed beyond anything your worst nightmares could have created, a wasp head, a black-furred rabbit with lifeless blood-red eyes…

Jarret clenched his fists for a moment, and then his arms went limp at his side. He was dimly aware of a click as the door unlocked and the bolts snapped aside, the security system readouts going totally insane. Jarret wasn't able to move an inch, while the door creaked open, a withered hand appearing round the door frame, looking as if it were made from smoke and mist and...

Ailee closed her eyes tight, flinging her arms wide. Outside, her spell manifested, in the form of several noisy blasts of lightning that tore holes in the snow and the worn cobbled stones below. The Skiryk's faces snapped round to look at the crashing lightning, impossibly fast, before snapping back towards the nightclub. It gave Ailee just enough time to hurl a green fireball at the hand reaching round the door, which simultaneously slammed shut as the hand evaporated. Ailee rushed over, relocking the door, then using another spell to seal it shut, while Jarret woke from the depths of whatever trance he had been in, letting out a groan and holding his head.

For the next few minutes nobody spoke. They just waited, tensely watching the doors and windows, until finally, as though someone had flipped a switch, the ethereal purple light flashing over the entire city vanished and the Skiryks floated slowly and silently upwards into the night sky, fading from view.

And then they were gone. Phoenixbrook breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Ailee unlocked the doors, shooing the club's patrons out into the night, determined to have the place empty. Once they'd left, reluctantly (even though there was no longer any threat - history had proven the Skiryks had never returned suddenly, as though they were playing some sort of twisted hiding game) she locked the door, turning to Jarret who was shaking and helping himself to one of the many bottles behind the bar.

Ailee glared. "What were you playing at, you idiot?"

Jarret's grip tightened on the bottle, then relaxed as he placed it back down on the bar. "Proving a point, in case you hadn't noticed."

She retorted angrily, "Well lucky you! Good old Jarret gets to put himself, me and everyone else here at risk just to prove a point. And you want to know the best thing about it all? I'm not even damn well surprised."

He ignored her, waiting until she had finished, before continuing. "Either the Skiryks have gained considerable leverage as far as the rules are concerned, somehow, or they've always had the ability to enter any building but simply chose not to. And if that's the case, and the Elysia ever find out, goddess help us all…"