The Trespassing of Souls

by M S C Barnes

around him. And then he recoiled as he felt a tug on the back of his jumper. Turning in panic, expecting to see the teeth of a hound grasping him, he swallowed back a scream as he saw Aiden, head still sparsely covered in flamers, pulling on his jumper.

  “Seb, you need to get away from the pyramid of mirrors. Mr West says you have to open a doorway with me!” Aiden looked petrified at the task he had been given and Seb was impressed at his little friend who, obviously terrified, had thrown himself into the melee anyway.

  Shamed by his own feeble cowering he nodded to him. Locating the dark tower, glimpses of which he could see amid the dust and feet around him, he began to crawl in the opposite direction, Aiden following as closely as he could. It took them only seconds to reach the base of the nearest standing stone and here the light of the moon could now penetrate. None of the gytrash or bats had yet realised their quarry had moved, all so focused on the Guardians and Dryads.

  Kneeling in front of the monolith, Seb whispered to Aiden, “Is he sure a door will appear? It’s just that … well, look at what happened last time!”

  Kneeling beside Seb, Aiden stared at the surface of the stone.

  “You heard Miss West; her brother’s never been wrong!” He shrugged.

  Aiden already had the tin in his hand and popped the lid open. His freckles caught the pink light from inside. He stared at the tin then at the stone. “Seb, the whole thing is a door,” he said.

  “Can you see anything on the other side of it?” Seb asked.

  Aiden shook his head. “I don’t know. There are hazy colours but nothing definite. I really don’t know. Are you going to open it?”

  Seb was staring over at the tower, the upward slant of its surface showing a reflection of the dark sky above them. Beside it he glimpsed a small, black dot and then, recognising the shape, jerked his head to the left just in time to avoid the bat’s sharp claws. The thing slammed into the stone next to Seb. He saw four more bats heading his way; they had apparently realised he wasn’t with the Guardians or the Dryads and were once again directing their attack on him.

  Above the sound of the ongoing battle Seb heard Alice call, “Seb, we can’t hold them off for ever!”

  That was enough for Seb. “We need to get out of here,” he said.

  Lifting his hand he captured the light from Aiden’s face and tilted his palm but, as he did, Heath appeared from the other side of the stone and pushed him roughly.

  “Mind out, Seb; the bats!”

  As Seb overbalanced, his hand turned and sent the reflected light skimming across one face of the tower. The tower dissolved instantly and as if a tear had opened in space, a gap of darkness appeared, far deeper than that of the night around them.

  A shout hailed them from behind and Mr West came running towards the boys, Scarlet, Nat and Mr White with him.

  “Seb, you were supposed to open a door; I said to keep away from the central stone!” He sounded horrified.

  Seb felt guilty. He tried to explain it was an accident but Mr West was calling to his sister, “Trudy, move away!”

  Miss West, along with Zach and The Caretaker, began edging towards the opposite side of the outer circle, leading the fight away from the group.

  Seb frantically put his hand down, closing his fingers on his palm, trying to undo what he had done by keeping any reflection away from the tower. But even without his hand shining light on it, the dark crack in the fabric of the night remained open.

  Scarlet, standing behind Seb and staring into the void, suddenly shouted, “I can see … oh my!” Seb looked to where her shaking finger was pointing – he could see nothing but blackness.

  “We must close it!” Mr West yelled.

  Mr White turned to Seb. “Illuminate it again, Seb. Aiden, the rowan powder.”

  Aiden opened the inner section of the tin and took a pinch of the powder and Seb opened his hand, trying to catch the moonlight. Bats were now swarming down on them and Dierne and Alice zoomed about above their heads trying to extend the mesh canopy to shield the whole group.

  As Seb managed to catch a sudden ray of moonlight Heath yelled, “Look out!” and pointed to the right, jostling Aiden.

  “I dropped the tin!” He moaned.

  They all looked where Heath was pointing. A couple of bats were ducking under the meshing net but Alice intercepted them before they got any further.

  Aiden was on his knees. On the ground in front of him was Mr White’s tin, glinting in the weak light and around it, in the short grass, the powdery contents. He tried to retrieve some but a sudden gust of wind lifted and scattered the granules.

  “That’s Mr Duir! I’m sure it is!” Scarlet pulled Seb’s attention away from Aiden, grabbing his arm and waving a finger to the left of the dark chasm.

  A figure had leapt from behind one of the standing stones and was running across to the jewel-speckled circle of earth beneath the chasm. Seb could never have recognised it as Mr Duir from that distance. At the same time a white, insubstantial haze drifted out of the void. Mr Duir, if Mr Duir it was, lifted his hand but the hazy form now zoomed towards him and wrapped itself around his neck.

  Seb was captivated by the freakish scene and was uncertain whether he should still be trying to close the fissure with Aiden. He called to Mr West, “Do we close it?”

  Mr West placed a hand on his shoulder. “No, Seb. It’s too late.”

   

   

  Defence

  Scarlet was yelling, “It is! It is Mr Duir. Can’t we help him?” She took a step forward. Mr White stopped her.

  “No,” he spoke gently. “And he wouldn’t want us to.”

  As Seb watched, Mr Duir fell to the ground, captive of the ghostly haze which had emerged from the dark void. The spectre was writhing, folding and winding itself around him.

  The sound of fighting was ferocious on the other side of the stone circle and now Mr West shouted to his sister, “Trudy, bring them.”

  Miss West appeared from the other side of the yawning chasm. A massive hound leapt in pursuit of her. With a decisive swing she struck it with the tip of her staff, right between the eyes. The beast howled and flopped to the ground at her feet. The husk of the animal lay unmoving but the ghostly cloud of its erstwhile occupying soul emerged.

  Mr West yelled, “Seb, strike it!”

  Dragging his eyes away from Mr Duir, Seb looked bemusedly at the dwarf.

  “Your hand, Seb,” Mr West urged him. “You have to light the soul, banish it.”

  In the sky bats were swarming everywhere so Seb had no available light. Then Aiden, beside him, flipped open the tin, giving him the source he needed. Reflecting it off his birthmark he focused it onto the mist trail. As the light struck it the soul was sucked into the void and disappeared with a harrowing scream.

  The Caretaker, following Miss West’s lead, dispatched a panther which was in mid-leap towards Seb, striking it on the chest with the tip of the staff. It fell and a white fog trail emerged to be pulled straight into the chasm as Seb shone light on it.

  Zach now struck at the beast in front of him, letting out a triumphant “Yes!”

  Seb couldn’t see it though; it was obscured by the black chasm.

  Miss West yelled, “Move, Zach. It will try to enter you. Move!” She did a tumble in mid-air and, landing beside him, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the other side of the gap.

  Seb still couldn’t see the vaporous mist of the soul and above him Dierne and Alice were tiring. A bat found its way through the mesh and landed on his shoulder, digging its claws in so hard he yelped. The Caretaker ran over in five massive strides, yanked the thing off him and threw it out of the circle.

  Miss West reached the group with Zach, and close behind them Seb could see the spiralling mist-trail. Forced to avoid it, Dierne and Alice had difficulty keeping their net secure and several bats struck Seb. The Caretaker snatched each one away and shouted at him, “Deal with the soul, Seb.”

  Feeling drained, he opened his finger
s and tipped his hand to catch the light from Aiden’s cheeks and as he shone it on the ghostly trail the thing was drawn into the chasm.

  There was still one more beast which, more cautiously, prowled across the ground, looking for an opportunity to get at Seb. Miss West, Zach and The Caretaker formed a defensive line in front of him and Dierne and Alice managed to re-enforce their protective mesh to prevent the bats from getting through. Beneath this, Seb could barely stand. He watched the pair of red eyes advancing.

  “Should we open a door?” Aiden asked nervously.

  Mr West shook his head. “No Aiden, we cannot risk it now.”

  Seb stared at Mr Duir who was trying to drag himself through the gap into the dark crevice, the mist haze still wrapped around him like a straitjacket. Feeling useless and utterly weary, Seb wondered why no one was trying to help him, but then he saw Heath come from nowhere, taking several steps towards Mr Duir. At last someone is going to help him.

  He caught a brief blur to his left. Dierne swooped towards Mr Duir, leaving Alice alone to defend Seb from the air.

  Miss West and The Caretaker dispatched the last gytrash as the beast jumped at Seb. He forced himself to concentrate on mustering the energy to illuminate the twirling soul. It was sucked into the void.

  Zach helped Alice, striking bats left and right with his staff like a game of rounders, hitting them so hard they flew way beyond the boundary of the stone circle, but the two of them were unable to contain such vast numbers. The bats flooded towards Seb, their screeching and fluttering