by M S C Barnes
“Aiden,” Nat said, gently. “What’s wrong?”
Now he checked himself and instantly appeared embarrassed. “I am sorry,” he mumbled, looking at the ground. “I didn’t mean to shout. I think I am just tired and hungry and it has made me bad tempered.” Seb watching him, sympathised. He was feeling tired himself, the pain in his hand was getting quite acute and his headache was worsening. He guessed — and it was a pure guess — that it must be around three in the morning and waiting in this cold, dismal place, having had no sleep and no food was enough to make anyone feel ratty. He rubbed his forehead, and then winced; it was so sore it felt as though he had been hitting it against a wall. He sighed.
“Aiden, we all feel the same,” he said. “You don’t have to apologise.”
“I think he does,” Zach muttered. “It was me he shouted at.”
“And I am sorry, Zach,” Aiden said. “But we really should do as Aelfric says and wait here.”
“Aiden,” Zach said, “There were three swords used to make the enclave. Two of those have gone with Henri. I have the third. Aelfric said they were for use by the Guardians to deal with any threat within the enclave. Well, Scarlet has just described a big, scary threat and yet Aelfric and Trudy do not have this!” He pointed at the sword. “Now, I am not about to leave Seb unprotected, but I also can’t leave them to deal with whatever that black ghost is, without the sword or my help!”
Seb rubbed his aching forehead again as, momentarily, he saw double — two Zachs standing defiantly in front of two meek Aidens. His feet were incredibly sore now, he was perspiring and he felt light headed. Worrying he might fall over, he reached a hand out to Pace, steadying himself.
“You okay Seb?” Alice turned to him.
“Tired,” Seb said, “And very achy. It’s been a long night.”
“What’ve you done?” Alice asked, looking shocked. He pushed the hair back from Seb’s forehead. “You’ve got a massive bruise. Did you bang your head on something?”
Seb shook his head and that made him dizzy. Pace stood up and leant against him. The power from the wolf’s body helped instantly and the light-headedness and double vision cleared.
“No,” he said. “Really? A bruise?” He put his fingertips to his forehead again, wondering how he had got that. Nat moved around and stared at him.
“It’s a big bruise Seb. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head on something?” she asked.
“Well, if I did, I don’t remember,” Seb said, frowning.
Zach, frustrated, interrupted.
“We’re all tired, Seb, Aiden. But I doubt any of us is as tired as Aelfric — and he’s got holes in him that are leaking and he has a scary black ghost attacking him. So, shall we go and help? Or shall we stand here all night admiring Seb’s spectacular bruise?” He prodded Seb on the forehead and Seb yelped and pushed his hand away.
“Ow, Zach,” he said. “Don’t do that. But you’re right, we should go and help Aelfric.” He turned to Aiden. “I shouldn’t have let him go in the first place. He’s trying to protect me, when actually, he looks about to collapse himself. Dealing with Nicole and her group was going to be hard enough for him but we have no idea what that black ghost thing is. Trudy is injured, he doesn’t have The Caretaker, Dom or Lily with him and he doesn’t have the sword, like Zach says. We need to help him.”
“Seb, —” Aiden began to protest but Scarlet now shouted over him.
“We do have to go to them!” She looked up from her mirror, appalled. “The black ghost thing is strangling Aelfric!”
Zach didn’t wait now; he grabbed the torch, jumped into the river and ran along it.
“Come on!” he shouted and instantly the others, all debate forgotten, jumped in and ran after him.
Seb struggled to navigate through the water; the soles of his feet felt so painful. He guessed it was due to the new boots he had been wearing all night and tried to ignore it but he limped and Alice noticed.
“What’s wrong Seb?”
“Blisters from these boots, I think,” he said and tried to keep up with Zach.
They turned the bend in the river and after about twenty feet came to a dead end. Zach flashed the torch around, looking for a doorway and took a step closer to the end wall; but Aiden suddenly pulled him back.
“Oi!” he exclaimed and Aiden pointed at the water. “What?” Zach said.
“Right at your feet, Zach. The Cursed Well,” Aiden said, sounding dejected. Looking down, all Seb could see was a gentle swirling in the water, like a strange, localised current. Aiden, looking into his tin, mumbled, “It’s a natural well. It feeds into a submerged tunnel that leads all the way to the River Wye without ever surfacing. At this time of year it is totally filled with water. If you step there, you will be sucked under by the current and will drown.”
“Information before the event, Aiden?” Zach grinned. “Most unlike you.”
“He saved you, Zach,” Scarlet said. “Be nice.”
“If I had time, I’d kiss him, Scarlet; but we have a black ghost to fight. Where can we tread that’s safe?” he asked and she scanned the water then pointed to the left. Zach looked across and suddenly waved the torch at the wall. “You are clever, Beautiful,” he said. “Look, that’s the way the others used.” He pointed with his sword at a tangle of plant roots which protruded through the wall and ceiling to their left. Within their knotted mass was the rough outline of a door and cobwebs crowding down from the roof above it had obviously been recently disturbed. Zach now thrust the torch at Aiden. “Here, hold this,” he said, and, taking one step back, he carefully picked his way over and stepped up onto the narrow bank. Placing his shoulder against the wall he muttered, “Open Sesame,” and shoved. Nothing happened. He tutted and shoved again. Still nothing. “Okay, it must open inwards. A handle then; anyone see a handle? Scarlet?” She shook her head and joined him on the bank.
“Maybe Seb needs to light it up?” Aiden suggested.
“No,” Zach muttered. “Aelfric specifically said it was a physical entrance. Come on people, that ghost could have killed him by now!” he raised his voice and kicked the bottom of the wall in frustration. As he did, the top tipped forward slightly. “Oh yay,” he said and then pushed out with his foot, nudging the bottom of what was now obviously a lose section of wall. The top tipped further down and, reaching up, Zach grabbed it and pulled. The section of wall pivoted and a gap opened. Without waiting, he grabbed the torch from Aiden, who was clambering up onto the bank, and darted through the hole.
One by one they clambered up a steep, muddy incline and out into the night, emerging through the ivy-choked gap between two large trees in the middle of a densely-wooded area. Covered in dirt and cobwebs and with soaking trouser legs and shoes, Seb was perspiring. He was breathing as though he had just finished a cross-country run at school and he now had aches in his arms and shoulders. Fortunately, and strangely, the pain in his palm had lessened. He put a hand on Pace’s leg and instantly felt better. His breathing slowed and he felt fresh energy charge into him.
“Quickly, Aiden, a door,” Zach half-shouted. Aiden, looking absolutely miserable, popped his tin lid open and pointed at a tree trunk to their right. “Seb,” Zach said and Seb reflected the firefly torchlight onto the trunk. A door appeared; Zach rushed straight to it.
Seb went to follow but Aiden tapped him on the arm.
“Please, Seb,” he said, looking fit to cry. “I wasn’t going to tell you because I thought, if you knew, it would make things worse but —” He didn’t get to finish. Zach had opened the door and now, grabbing Seb by the sleeve, dashed through, dragging him with him.
They arrived in the church to an extraordinary scene. Aelfric, supported by Dierne, was leaning against Cue, breathing heavily. Trudy, beside him, staff still drawn, was watching Greg tend to Jacqueline who lay, unmoving, at Aelfric’s feet. Philippe knelt beside Greg, sniffling and holding Jacqueline’s hand. There was no sign of a black ghost, or a ghost of any sort.
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As they stepped through the door, Aelfric glanced over and Seb saw a momentary look of dismay on his face before he hid it. It was enough, however, to make Seb stop in his tracks.
“Where’d it go?” Zach boomed. “The ghost? The black ghost?” He span around to look at Scarlet and then back to stare at Trudy. She was fuming.
“Why are you here? Aelfric told you to stay at the river!” she barked
Jacqueline moaned now and Aelfric knelt down and placed a hand gently on her forehead as Pace joined Cue behind him.
“Jacqui,” he said, quietly. “I can help but you have to want me to.” She moaned again and her eyes fluttered open.
“Not what I thought,” she managed to say, before closing her eyes again.
“She misled us, Aelfric,” Philippe snivelled.
Aelfric glanced up at Seb, as if torn and eventually he nodded to Greg.
“She won’t survive much longer, sit her up.”
“Aelfric,” Trudy whispered. “Every minute you waste helping her…”
Aelfric shook his head, rejecting her comment, and Greg and Philippe lifted Jacqueline into a sitting position.
“Listen carefully, Jacqui,” Aelfric said, keeping his hand on her forehead. “When I call it from you, you have to prevent its return. If you don’t, you will not survive. I need to know you want this and are working with me,” he said. “Jacqui?”
She opened her eyes with difficulty and regarded Aelfric for a moment.
“I am sorry,” she said eventually and her head lolled forward and she closed her eyes again. Her aura was barely visible though Seb, as he had in the caves, noticed that it had a black tinge around the edges.
Now Aelfric took his hand away from her head and got up while Greg and Philippe propped her against the back of a pew.
“All of you, go and stand in the circle,” he said, firmly and pointed to half way up the church aisle where the decorative flagstones in the floor resembled an image of the sun. Greg immediately did as Aelfric asked and took a sobbing Philippe with him. Confused, none of Seb’s group moved at first and Aelfric sighed. “You need to step into the circle and remain within its confines until this is over,” he said and now Aiden, pulling Seb by the arm, led them all around the prone Jacqueline to join Greg and Philippe. “Trudy and Dierne, you too please,” Aelfric said, quietly. Reluctantly, Trudy made her way. Dierne hovered a moment longer by Aelfric’s side and then zoomed across to join the group in the now crowded space.
“Look up,” Aiden whispered to Seb.
Directly above them, in the ceiling, was what appeared to be a relief of a large flower and in the middle of that, golden lines radiated from a central point, as if depicting the sun. The whole thing was surrounded by a gilt-embossed halo.
“What’s going on?” Zach said. “Shouldn’t we be finding Nicole? Dealing with the golem?”
“After Aelfric dismisses the shadowtrail,” Greg muttered.
“Shadowtrail?” Zach asked.
“The black ghost, Zach,” Aiden said.
“Might’ve guessed you’d know what he was talking about Aiden,” Zach said. “So, where is it then? And why do we have to stand in this silly circle? Surely he’ll need us to help?”
Aelfric heard him.
“Zach,” he said, holding onto Cue with one hand and kneeling down again beside Jacqueline, “Today is the winter solstice; the time when dark gives way to light. Many centuries ago, our ancestors, recognising the significance of that time, built a fort atop this hill, and, at the centre of it, they created a circle in honour of the sun. A myriad of crystals and gems were sunk deep into the earth at that precise spot where the sun is outlined on the floor. And their they still lie. The potency of those gems, embedded within a circle signifying the sun, will provide protection for you from what I am about to do,” he said, his breathing harsh. “It is not a silly circle, it is your sanctuary and you will stay in that circle, no matter what happens, until I am done.” He spoke the words as an order. Zach opened his mouth, then closed it and, shrugging, placed the tip of his sword onto the flagstone at his feet and stared gloomily at the shaft.
Seb, huddled with the others, wondered what had happened and what was about to happen. He tried to disregard the increasing pain in his body, now thinking maybe he was coming down with flu. He ached all over; his shoulders, chest, knees even, all felt battered and bruised and the bottoms of his feet were so hot and sore he found it painful to remain standing. He watched Aelfric, trying to take his mind off it.
“So what is a shadowtrail then?” Scarlet whispered to Greg as Aelfric let go of Cue, slid his right arm around Jacqueline’s shoulders and cradled her against his chest.
“I suppose the best way to describe it,” Greg mumbled back, “is that it is a latent imprint of the diabolical wishes of a banished soul.”
“Not the soul itself then?” Scarlet asked and Greg shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Simply the emotional remnants, or ghost, of a dissatisfied soul. It can, like a trespassing soul, take up residence in a human host, and then one of two things happens,” Greg spoke quickly. “If the host soul is a willing one, the shadowtrail, over time, increasingly influences their actions, driving them to enact deeds commensurate with the thwarted emotional desires of the soul from which the shadowtrail came.”
Nat shuffled over to stand with Seb and her shoulder brushed against his arm. He winced and gave a small groan. Aelfric glanced at him and a strange look crossed his face before he looked back down at Jacqueline.
“And the other thing?” Zach asked.
“The other thing is, if it enters a resistant human host, then its maleficence acts as a disease which destroys that host, rotting it from the inside out.” He turned to Zach. “It is for that reason Aelfric has told you, and all of us, to stay in the circle.”
“Persuaded,” Zach said.
“So Jacqueline is being a willing host to a shadowtrail?” Scarlet asked. “Why?”
Greg’s voice turned mournful. “We believe that this is the shadowtrail of Heath’s soul.” He glanced at Seb. “At the time you banished him, Seb, the hate and anger he felt towards you and Aelfric created the trail — the ghost of his emotions. And that ghost found a willing host in Jacqueline — who, we have all known, worshipped Heath.” Now he turned back to Scarlet. “But the problem, and danger now is that she is no longer wanting to host it. She let it back in once but now resists it and she will die if Aelfric does not help her.”
Philippe emitting a loud sob, wiped his nose and stared across at Jacqueline, looking desolate.
“Jacqui, can you hear me?” Aelfric called to her. “Jacqui?” She turned her head slightly towards him but gave no other response. “I will bring it out, but you must then block it from returning. You cannot let it back in like before.”
She fidgeted and then began to struggle. Aelfric held her more tightly with his right arm and raised his left arm. Through one of the decorated windows in front of him, the moon shone weak beams of light. As Cue nudged up against him, he captured the light on his birthmark and tilted it towards Jacqueline’s chest.
“Alétan,” he said, and white light shot from his hand into Jacqueline. She arched her back and a stream of black mist poured out of her chest and flew upwards. A chilling, unearthly scream came from it and as Jacqueline slumped into Aelfric’s arms, it began to swirl and twist high above their heads. Seb winced as he felt the pain in his palm double and watched, appalled, as the black mist gradually took on the hazy appearance of human form. Scarlet was right, it did look like a black ghost. It hung in the air for a moment and tilted its featureless head in Aelfric’s direction before swooping down towards him. Its movement was so rapid it created a rush of air that spread outwards like the force of an explosion. Those watching from within the circle were buffeted by it but Aelfric, bearing the brunt of its force, was pushed back against Cue and now the ghost-like black shape was on him. It seized him by the throat and began strangling him. Th
e attack was frenzied and so vicious Nat gave a horrified gasp and the wolves, behind Aelfric, howled.
Zach shouted and lifted a foot to step out of the circle. Trudy grabbed him and pulled him back.
“If you step out it will attack you and then Aelfric won’t be able to deal with it,” she yelled at him as Dierne flitted round and, standing in front of him, barred his path.
“So we’re just supposed to watch?” Zach said, astounded.
“Yes!” Dierne said.
“But I’ve got this,” Zach lifted the sword.
“And Aelfric can manage,” Trudy snapped at him.
“Yeah, looks like it,” Zach said as they all watched the black ghost squeezing its fingerless hands tighter around Aelfric’s neck.
“It can’t physically touch him, Zach,” Greg said. “What you are seeing is the manifestation of a souls emotions. It has no physical presence.”
And now Seb realised, the demonic black ghost was having absolutely no effect on Aelfric. Although he lay against Cue, he wasn’t struggling for breath and didn’t look to be concerned at all by this monstrous shape attempting to throttle him.
“So why are we all standing here, if it can’t physically touch us? Okay, it looks scary,” Zach said, “but what’s the problem if it can’t hurt anyone?”
“It can enter you though Zach, and its effects will be swift and catastrophic if you resist it. Stay in the circle,” Greg stressed.
Suddenly Aelfric’s aura intensified and the black shape writhing around him was thrown from him. Jacqueline had fallen to the floor beside him and quickly, he scooped her in his arms as the shadowtrail slammed into the ceiling, screaming and wailing. Recovering, it zoomed back down to Aelfric but was repelled instantly by his aura. Frustrated it darted towards Jacqueline.
“Don’t let it back in Jacqui,” Aelfric shouted to her and his aura became even more vivid. Seb could see Jacqueline’s faint aura within Aelfric’s and as his intensified, as though boosted by it, hers grew momentarily stronger. As the shadowtrail hit her body, it found itself repelled again and roared with fury before tearing off and zigzagging around the vast area of the church, banging into walls, windows, pillars and beams like a child having a tantrum. It screeched and moaned and raged and then rushed back towards Aelfric once more. Holding Jacqueline and leaning against Cue, he lifted his hand, capturing the moonlight.