its stone base, the other ghouls jumped and snarled, startling him. The scare was so sudden and proficiently calculated that the black guard’s instincts were slowed, clouding his judgment.
He fell on his hind and scrambled backward, his body briefly tangled with Rudolph’s. He kicked Rudolph away and managed to link his chain to the stone base, while Rudolph curled up on the ground, huffing and puffing as he covered his skinny abdomen. The other ghouls watched the guard with vicious eyes, but they were quiet now. Like predators. Waiting.
“That’ll teach you to be stupid,” the black guard muttered, and walked away.
I rushed over to Rudolph, gently stroking the side of his face. “Are you okay?” I asked, and Rudolph looked at me with big, warm black eyes. A glimmer caught my attention. Looking down, I saw a scythe’s blade on the ground, right next to him. His fingers were curled around its ivory handle.
“Hot diggity!” I exclaimed, almost laughing. “You did it!”
I checked my surroundings again. The ghouls were motionless, resting on their legs like obedient and curious dogs. There were black guards about thirty yards away, at different points around the pen. What came next had to be done fast—before any of them noticed. They, too, had scythes, and they could clearly use them to kill ghouls, much like Veliko. I wanted to save these creatures, not get them murdered.
“Okay… Okay, so… we’ve made it this far,” I murmured, smiling at Rudolph. “You’ve been amazing. What do we do next?”
Rudolph handed me the scythe, forcing himself to speak the tongue of the living—an effort that made his face wrinkle with pain. “Cut… chain…”
“Roger that,” I replied, continuously impressed by his ability to press forward, despite his tragic condition.
I took the scythe in my hands, without immediately noticing the commotion I’d caused. Focused on the rune chain links, I brought the scythe’s blade down in an effort to crush them. Energy surged through my arm like an icy draft. This was a Reaper’s power. It was intense. It was nothing like what I’d felt when we’d first touched Yamani’s scythe during our Hermessi quest. I wondered if it had something to do with me being dead. Maybe my spirit reacted differently than my body.
“What the hell?!” one of the black guards shouted.
“Who is that?” another asked.
Looking to my right, I saw them staring. They could see me. They could friggin’ see me, and it had to be the scythe. Veliko had failed to reveal me, and yet simply holding a Reaper scythe had made me visible to the enemy. Son of a...
Rudolph yelped nervously, yanking at the rune chain, which I had yet to break. I kept hitting it with the blade, a shower of sparks flying outward in different colors. Red. White. Blue. Green. Violet. The entire spectrum exploded as I brought the scythe down, over and over, my nerves so tight they were bound to snap.
“I really wish I could understand exactly how this whole Reaper scythe thing works,” I muttered, gritting my teeth. I split my attention between breaking Rudolph’s chain and keeping an eye on the black guards, who took out their own scythes and came charging at me. “Oh crap, oh crap!”
Time was running out faster than I could mentally process what I was doing.
Rudolph was practically squealing, restless and scared. His big eyes darted between me and the incoming guards. The other ghouls, however, were eerily calm, mere inches behind him. Something was off. But I kept hitting. The guards kept coming, and I kept hitting the damn rune chain, until I finally saw the first crack.
“This is a tough one!” I breathed. “Hold on, Rudy. A little while longer. Hold on!”
“Get her! She’s trying to set the ghoul free!” one of the guards snarled.
Seconds were left before they’d catch me. Before one of their blades would come down—and I had no idea what effect it would have on me. They weren’t Reapers. They couldn’t reap me, technically speaking. Then again, they weren’t supposed to be able to kill ghouls with their scythes, and yet Veliko had proved it possible.
Anyway, trouble was afoot.
I kept hitting that chain like it was my last resort. The final thing I could do before the curtain came down. Before the show was over.
Then it snapped. The battered link gaped open, and Rudolph pulled away, growling with excitement. I wanted to cheer, but a dozen black guards had already reached us.
I slashed out with my scythe in a bid