A Witch's Trial (Witch's Path Series: Book 3) Page 8

  If killing the demon was the only way I could help Elron, I'd do it. Not only would it help him, but neither myself nor my family would be safe until Gremory was no longer a resident of this world. Beyond that, killing the demon would be a public service. He hadn't exactly been the best citizen Gilmer County had seen.

  After I got out of the shower and slipped into fresh clothes, I activated a small cosmetics charm. Elron didn't need to see my puffy eyes and red nose. A look in the mirror reassured me that the charm was doing its job, and I headed out of the bedroom. The dining room table was set with a pitcher of iced tea and place settings for both of us. Elron was bent over the kitchen counter, his wet hair pulled back in a braid that left a damp spot on his shirt.

  "What's for dinner?" I asked.

  Elron turned around with a tray in his hands. "Why don't you sit down and see for yourself?"

  "Come on, please tell me?" I begged, wanting to see him smile.

  He shook his head and stepped back into the kitchen, setting the tray out of sight. I guess he didn't think the high sides were enough of a deterrent to my prying eyes.

  "Is dinner ready?"

  "Perhaps you must sit down to find out." This time he smiled faintly.

  I smiled back at him. "Oh, all right. I'll follow orders, for now."

  Finally I heard him chuckle. That sound felt right, as if he was reclaiming the good parts of him. The sadness, hurt, and loss were still there, lingering under the surface, ready to suck him under given the chance, but a man who would laugh and smile was one who still had fight in him.

  Even if Elron ran out of strength, I was there, ready to go to battle for him. Sylvia's return might have shaken him to his core, but the way I saw it, the two of them were more victims of the demon. Gremory didn't get to hurt Elron, children, or werewolves anymore. I was coming for him.

  Now, if I could only figure out how to kill a demon, this would be easier.

  "This is dinner."

  I blinked, coming back to the here and now, bringing the table into focus. Elron set a small salad and an empty plate in front of me before setting a tray of meat, cheese, crackers, and olives between us.

  After leaving a salad at his spot, he sat down next to me, cleared his throat, and said, "I hope this is satisfactory."

  "It's lovely."

  And it was.

  Chapter 7: Michelle

  I awoke to a roar, a deafening sound that could only have come from Ty. Bolting upright, I hurried to jam my feet into slippers. I was ready to bolt out the door when a hair-raising screech came from my window. Lunging sideways, I flipped on the outside light as another scraping screech emanated from my window. The light flickered on, illuminating a shambling, half-rotted body gripping a large rusty nail in the three fingers that remained on its right hand. Its jaw swung open as if to grin, and it set the nail against the window again.

  Screaming, I snatched my wand off the nightstand and scrambled into the living room, plowing headfirst into Elron. My momentum pushed us over, and we landed in a heap. In my struggle to stand, I stepped on Elron a few times, but within seconds I was facing my bedroom, arm up and wand ready.

  "What is going on, Michelle?" Elron demanded, rubbing his belly where I'd accidentally planted one foot.

  "Thing, outside my window."

  "What is this thing?" He twisted his hand and was suddenly gripping a sword. I was going to have to make him explain that trick one of these days.

  "Not sure. Some type of an animated corpse."

  There was another roar, and the lodge shook.

  Elron walked into my room and then quickly walked out. "There is nothing outside your window."

  "Well, there was," I snapped.

  "That I believe."

  The building shook again, and I bit off a nasty word. Before Elron had a chance to question me, I was out the front door and sprinting the few steps to the outside door.

  "What are you doing?" Elron's hand closed over the doorknob.

  "Going outside to deal with that thing."

  "Why? You are safer in here."

  "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I'm not letting it destroy Landa's Lodge. And, frankly, it may scare me out of my slippers, but I've got the best chance of stopping it." I shoved past him and burst outside.

  It was quiet. There we no roars from Ty, sounds of battle, or crickets, frogs, birds, and other normal night sounds. The hair on my arms stood up—the night felt wrong. I started down the path that would take me around the corner of the building to my bedroom window.

  My wand was in my hand, but I didn't know what I'd do when I saw the corpse. Spells that work on living people seldom worked on the dead. Rounding the corner of the lodge was anticlimactic. There was nothing there. The spill of light over my bedroom window illuminated a flowerbed and some short shrubs. Past that, it was difficult to see, but nothing caught my eye.

  Elron stepped beside me, sword still in hand, curved dagger in his off hand. He surveyed the garden and tensed. I was about to ask what he could see when Ty charged out of the tree, roaring. An indistinct shape moved in front of him, managing to avoid teeth and claws.

  The two of them raced into the garden, and I could see enough to cast. Flicking my wrist, I said, "Fehu."

  The corpse slowed to a stop. Ty skidded to keep from running into it.

  I walked over, talking in soothing tones, but my eyes and wand never left the body. "Ty, you were a good boy. It's okay now. You can calm down. You did such a good job."

  Ty pranced over to me, sniffed me, and rubbed his cheek against me.

  I leaned my head against him. "You were a very good boy. Can you keep watch?"

  He bobbled his head and moved back.

  Elron and I stood about six feet from the decaying remains and surveyed my attacker. I was grateful dinner had been hours ago, because it was a fight to keep the remaining food where it belonged.

  The clothing he'd been in when he died hadn't fared well. The fabric had rips and missing sections. Luckily, his pants were mostly intact. Flesh and sinew hung off him in sections and strips. All but the sturdiest tissue had been stripped off his left arm, and most of his chest cavity was exposed with some of the intestines hanging out. His right arm was in better shape, but two of his fingers were missing.

  "Do you know what it is?" I asked.

  "No, there are many types of animated corpses. I do not have enough information to classify this one." Elron's eyes never left the body, and both weapons were still in his hands.

  I nodded and rolled my shoulders. This wasn't going to be fun. Carefully, oh so carefully, I pushed a strand of magic out to explore the body. I bit the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the feeling of brushing against the corpse. Not only did it give off a spine-tingling feeling of discord, but it tasted foul, for lack of a better term.

  Touching the undead with my magic produced a stomach-churning sensation I could've done without. Exhaling, I focused on the spell. It wasn't easy to get a feel for the animating magic because it moved every time my power brushed against it. Exasperated, I encapsulated the spell so I could examine it more closely.

  The energy in the corpse shifted, and it shed the spell I'd used to freeze it. My eyes flew open as I frantically pulled my power back into my skin. The undead thing was rushing at me, arm outstretched. There I was, eyes glued to the rotting body, feet solidly stuck to the ground, unable to evade it.

  A dark shape whipped through the air, and the corpse's arm parted from its body, coming to rest inches from my feet. The rest of the body lurched to the side and tumbled to the ground.

  Before it could get up, Elron was there, sword slashing down to cleave the head from the rest of the form. The body thrashed for a moment before going limp. Elron stood over it, sword and dagger at the ready as if he didn't trust it to stay dead. Frankly, I couldn't blame him.

  Something brushed against my toes. I looked down to see the fingers patting my foot. Before it could do anything more sinister, I pulled back
my left foot and punted the arm. It turned out that I'd learned something in gym class. The arm flew up in an arch, crashed into a tree, and came to rest in the forest.

  Elron looked at me out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the dead thing at his feet.

  "The arm was still moving," I said.

  He gave a tight nod. "I am not sure if this thing is finished."

  "Me either." I didn't know what to do. My education hadn't been heavy on how to deal with the not-so-dead.

  The arm crawled out of the brush and continued moving until it touched the body, where it assumed the same limp stance as the rest of the corpse.

  "I suppose we could burn it," I said.

  "Perhaps, but if it moves, we run the risk of setting the forest on fire," Elron countered.

  "I think I can hold it. Last time I put the spell on it, and I won't do that this time."

  "Very well. This clearing will do as well as any other location."

  He was right. We were standing on a patch of gravel, with bushes and decorative trees a few feet away. This was one of the few areas around the lodge without old-growth trees.

  I took a deep breath, pictured the size of the shield bubble I wanted to create, and said, "Sowil." The air glittered in a large sphere surrounding the body parts. Elron took a step back but didn't relax.

  "Dagaz." I jabbed my wand at the body, which burst into flames. We watched as the fire trailed over the torso and then jumped to the head, arms, and legs, not ready to believe that it was well and truly dead.

  "What is going on out here?" Landa demanded.

  I spun around to see Landa and Mander flanked by Baden and Paxton. "Umm, well, I'm not entirely sure." I glanced over my shoulder to see if Elron would be any help, but he was still completely focused on the flaming dead guy.

  "Well?" she prompted.

  Ty snorted, and I didn't try to figure out what that sound meant. "I woke up to that thing scratching on my window. Elron and I came out here to find Ty chasing it, and I tried to freeze it. When that didn't work, Elron beheaded it, and now we're burning it."

  "What is this 'it'?"

  I couldn't tell who asked that, but it wasn't Landa. She was satisfied with glaring at me.

  "An animated corpse."

  Landa tapped her foot.

  "I don't know anything else. Dead people didn't feature heavily in my education."

  "Elron, would you care to add anything?" Landa asked, her tone reminding me of a displeased teacher.

  "We have a problem."

  I spun back around. At first I didn't see what Elron was talking about. The body was burning nicely and giving off a nasty, if expected, odor. Then I saw it—the smoke. It was gathering at the top of the shield, which was normal enough, but it was moving, and flowing, with hard edges and straight lines.

  "What is that?" I asked.

  No one answered me.

  Elron took a few steps back and all of us stood there, watching the unnatural phenomenon, knowing that no good would come of it. If anyone knew what it was or what to do about it, they didn't say. My guess was that they were as baffled as I was.

  As we watched, the magically driven fire finished burning through the flesh and bone, leaving a pile of ash on the ground. The lack of fire didn't affect the black shape churning at the top of the shield.

  The last ember went dark, and the smoke rolled through the shield, brushing up against the walls. I held my breath, hoping the shield would contain it.

  Beside me, Elron sheathed his dagger and changed his grip on the sword. I tightened my hold on the unfamiliar wand. Behind me I heard feet move and breathing deepen, but I didn't turn around to see what everyone else was doing.

  The smoke flattened against the far side of the shield, and I started to believe spell would hold. Then smoke shot forward in a spear shape and passed right through the bubble, streaking toward us. I shot a stun spell at the smoke. Unfortunately, my spell passed right through it and hit some poor tree.

  Ty roared and came charging over. His jaws closed on the figure, but it streaked away, leaving him with nothing but air. It circled back to us, and a gust of wind blasted it, pushing it back. The shape twisted before pulling itself into a ball and rolling away from the strongest wind.

  Thanking the blustery fall day, I tried to figure out my next move. If my shields wouldn't hold it and my spells passed through it, there wasn't much else I could do. Maybe if I knew what it was I could design a spell, but I was reluctant to try without more information. At this point I was out of tricks and could only hope someone else was up to the challenge.

  The thing flew at me, using another gust to propel it forward, and flowed around a branch. I tried a slightly different shield spell, but it passed through that like it wasn't even there. Moving my feet, I got ready to turn and run. It wasn't a good plan, but it was the best one I had.

  Elron sliced his sword through the air, momentarily cleaving a section from the main portion. The smoke jerked back, and the blob Elron had removed faded into nothing.

  I stood there, mouth agape. The elf had the only weapon that could hurt the smoke-thingy. Elron was going to divulge some of that sword's secrets. It was embarrassing enough that he was always Johnny-on-the-spot, but to be outdone by a piece of metal was more than I could take. Besides, if I was going to keep getting nasty visitors, I needed to learn that trick.

  It gathered itself into a ball and shot up into the air, then circled the clearing before diving at me. A sudden blast of wind knocked it off course, but it corrected and was still coming for me. Elron slashed at it but missed. As it swung down, I ducked. It missed me by inches and shot back up into the sky.

  A deafening peal of thunder rolled through the air. I clapped my hands over my ears even though it was too late to help. Thankfully, the thunder did something to the smoke. It hung there, wavering back and forth. If I'd known thunder would do the trick, I could've manufactured some. I slowly removed my hands from my ears. Covering them wasn't doing any good since my hearing was gone for the moment.

  Several feet above the smoke, a shape moved. Crossing my fingers, I hoped for an ally. Somehow I didn't think we were prepared for another enemy. A column of white light emanated out of the dark shape, hitting the smoke, which twisted and thrashed until nothing was left. As the white light faded, I rubbed my eyes. At least one of my primary senses needed to work.

  The air stirred, and I regained enough vision to see Julius land next to the shield that was still protecting the ashes of the undead. He sat back on his haunches, looking about as harmless as a seven-foot-tall gargoyle can when he'd just incinerated a… well, something bad.

  After my eyes resumed working, I snapped my fingers to check my hearing. Nothing. Maybe in a few minutes it would come back. Beside me, Elron had vanished his sword and was shaking his head. Landa was glaring, but it didn't seem to be directed at a particular person.

  I sat down. It was going to take time to answer everyone's questions, and we couldn't start that process until vision and hearing returned to the group. Elron sat next to me, between the gargoyle and myself. Baden and Paxton settled down as well. Baden was rubbing his ears, and Paxton was frowning.

  Wiggling my ears made them feel gummy. Yawning, I popped them and could hear crickets chirping. The world still sounded funny, but it was an improvement.

  "What on God's green earth is going on?" Landa demanded.

  I glued my teeth together. Unless a question was directed at me, I wanted to be invisible. Too bad everyone knew the not-dead guy and the smoke-thingy had been after me.

  The rest of the group exchanged looks, but they didn't volunteer information either.

  "Well, what was that thing? I want answers," Landa snapped. This time she was looking at me. If I'd had answers, I would've offered them on a silver platter.

  "If I may," Julius interjected. "I suspect I am the only one qualified to answer that particular inquiry. That was a greater ghoul. It has been a very long time si
nce their ilk walked the land. As you've seen, they are not easy to kill."

  "Could we start at the beginning? I feel as if I'm only getting part of the story, and I'd like to understand exactly what a greater ghoul is and how it came to be here," Paxton said.

  All eyes turned to me.

  "I told you most of it before, but here goes." I retold the night's events in slightly more detail. "You guys showed up when we were burning the body and witnessed the rest."

  "There is little I can add. Ty's roar awakened me, and I quickly pulled on my shoes. I was going outside to investigate when Michelle screamed, at which point I went to aid her. The rest of the story is as you heard." Elron finished with a shrug.

  Julius nodded. "A greater ghoul can only be summoned by a truly evil creature. Had there been any doubt as to the nature of the evil brewing in Ellijay, this would settle it. As it is, we know that this individual has a vendetta against Michelle. Again, this is not a surprise."

  "How do you know that this is the first greater ghoul to show up in a long time?" Baden asked.

  "Gargoyles hunt evil. These are creatures of evil. It would be difficult for one of these to escape our notice." Julius saw Landa open her mouth but continued talking. "Let me finish my explanation, as it should simplify this process. Ghouls can be created any number of ways, but the basic requirements are energy and unscrupulous intent. Since most virtuous people will not tamper with the dead, those items are easily met. Greater ghouls are different. A true evil must create them, as only a corrupt individual could not only animate the body but bind a vengeful spirit to it as well. In addition, greater ghouls can target a specific individual."

  Julius looked at me. "Should you face one of these again, try a purifying spell, or purify the power before you direct it at the spirit."

  I nodded. It usually took power that had been purified to hold anything evil, but when I'd seen the decomposing body running at me, I hadn't been thinking clearly enough to make that connection. Next time I'd know better, and it was one more tidbit to file away in case traditional spells didn't work against something in the future.