spirits are disappearing again?” Amelia replied and shot to her feet from the rock on which she’d settled to rest for a while.
Taeral nodded. “Yeah. Reapers are coming. Let’s link hands. I can zap us closer to the building.”
We made sure we were all connected. I held Eva’s hand in mine, my fingers gripping firmly, as if I feared that, if I let go, she’d slip away like an early morning dream. We vanished, reappearing moments later in another part of the woods.
The waterfalls gushed not far from where we were, the streams’ rumble much louder than before. Above, hidden in the bamboo-like trees, strange birds shrieked and squawked, like homegrown alarm systems signaling our presence. We were the trespassers here, and I had a feeling someone or something didn’t want us around.
The flat-topped mountain towered over us. I had to lean my head back so I could take it all in, the building, a palace of sorts, rising on top of it like a silent, elegant giant. Lights flickered inside, and a chill squirmed its way through me like a quiet warning, telling me to get back… to stay away.
“I think we can keep walking from here,” Taeral said, his gaze wandering around us. “I can see the spirits now. Oddly enough, more of them than before.”
“More than the place we just left? That’s odd indeed—oh, whoa, wait.” Raphael paused, his eyes bulging. “I can see them too.”
“What? How can—” Amelia didn’t finish her reply, just sucked in a breath.
It turned out Taeral wasn’t the only one who could see spirits, even though he was the only one touching the scythe. We could all see them. Hundreds—male, female, young and old, from a plethora of species… translucent apparitions that stepped forward from the surrounding woods. Some, I recognized as creatures of the In-Between. Others were fae and perhaps visitors from the Supernatural Dimension, like witches and jinn. But there were numerous specimens I didn’t know of, in various sizes and with striking physical features.
“I don’t think this is normal,” Lumi murmured, cautiously moving back into our group. Instinctively, we followed her lead and clustered together, forming a tight center around which the ghosts began to gather. “We’re not supposed to see them.”
“Also, why do they look so… murderous?” Fallon mumbled, drawing his sword.
The screech of the blade sent shivers down my spine, but I feared it wouldn’t do any good against spirits. “Fallon, buddy… I doubt you’ll be able to hit anything with that sword,” I said. “They’re dead, remember?”
But he’d been accurate in his assessment. The spirits seemed angry, their expressions mangled by a fury that didn’t belong there. Those with fangs and claws to bare showed them off, hissing and growling as they approached us.
My heart began a thunderous race, beating frantically as I realized that these spirits were about to become aggressive. But it also begged a question I hoped I wouldn’t get the answer to: “Can they hurt us?”
“I don’t think I want to find out,” Herakles whispered. He and I were definitely on the same page.
“Be ready,” Lumi advised us.
Nethissis and Acantha were not fully recovered yet, and Lumi motioned for them to stay in the middle of our group. They weren’t too pleased with her request, but, based on their long sighs, they didn’t have much of a choice. Eva and I moved outward, swords drawn and ready. Raphael, Herakles, and Riza were on the other side of our cluster. Fallon, Taeral, Eira, Amelia, and Lumi completed the circle.
“We could teleport out of here,” Taeral suggested.
“Surely. But don’t you want to find out what they can do?” Eira asked him. “If ghosts cannot be seen, and yet they’re visible, doesn’t this prove there’s a strange phenomenon manifesting here?”
“By the same logic, if ghosts can’t normally touch us… these ones might be able to,” Raphael replied, his tone pitchier than usual.
One of the spirits came forward—a large daemon with a long black mane and golden rings jingling around his thick neck. He first reached Raphael, who dry-swallowed, his claws extending as he assumed a defensive pose. “I guess I’m about to test your theory, Eira. Though, let it be known, for the record, that I am not okay with this.”
The daemon spirit sneered at him, breathing heavily. We were ready to touch one another and link with Taeral at a moment’s notice, but Eira was right. If the ghosts had this ability here, we needed to know.
“Are you going to keep sizing me up