Katie looked behind her, contemplating again whether she should wake Cyrus, but the girl didn’t seem dangerous.
“Where’s Brickdale Ridge?”
The girl put a finger to her lips and then said, “She’s coming.”
The figure of the girl’s head vanished, leaving only blackness in her place. Katie sat there for a moment, looked around and let out a cold breath.
There was a gust of wind. Katie looked up. A tall silver-gray figure was coming fast towards her. Katie was able to make out a horrible face, and then she knew who the girl meant.
“Cyrus!” Katie got up and tumbled into the tent, falling on Cyrus’ legs. Tyson woke with a jolt, confused, and fell over Katie. Cyrus untangled himself from Tyson and Katie and got up. He looked outside.
“Run!” he yelled. He pulled Tyson and Katie from the tent and pushed them forward. They ran as fast as they could away from the woman. The closer she got, the uglier and meaner she looked. Though she shone bright, she left only darkness in her wake.
Cyrus, Katie, and Tyson ran, leaving everything behind. The stars glowed brightly above them, though their light was dimming as the sun, though still invisible on the ground, sent its first rays into the sky.
Katie tripped slightly in her run, but Tyson caught her and she didn’t lose much speed. The spirit was faster than them, though, and was steadily approaching.
All warmth left the air as coldness pierced Katie’s lungs. Her body stayed quite warm though the temperature of the air was rapidly decreasing. Together, she, Tyson and Cyrus ran desperately, each not wanting to know how the spirit’s victims had died.
The ghost was just a few feet away. Katie tried to put some energy into her running but she already felt as though she was running faster than she ever had before.
Cyrus looked back quickly and saw that the spirit was inches away from grabbing Katie. He yelled and shoved Katie to the side, causing her to fall hard to the ground as he toppled over her. Tyson skidded to a stop so he could run back and help Katie and Cyrus, but the spirit reached them first.
She drew out a long blade. Katie yelled and tried to block the spirit’s hand from stabbing her. Katie’s arm went right through the spirit’s arm like it was air, but when she brushed against the blade, it pierced into her arm, causing it to bleed.
The ghost hissed and made another move to stab Katie. Katie yelled again and put her arms in front of her face to shield it. Water cascaded upwards like an upside-down waterfall, and the blade was thrown into the air. The spirit’s arms went through the water and wrapped around Katie’s throat.
Katie tried to pry the hand off her throat, but when she tried to make physical contact, Katie only touched her own neck. Cyrus and Tyson were both hitting the ghost, though their efforts only led to them hitting each other.
Gasping for breath, Katie made another attempt to break free but to no avail. Her lungs were out of air, and she knew there was nothing that she could do now.
The morning sun rose over the horizon in the distance, shining a new beacon across the land of Narque in a flash that wiped out the darkness and washed over them as a bright light. The spirit looked back at the light and shrieked. She evaporated within seconds.
When the spirit was gone, Katie rolled over and spluttered on the ground, taking huge gasps of air.
10
The Treasure Down Below
Tyson ran over to Katie to make sure she was all right. It was still fairly dark, with only the first of the sun’s rays making their way over the horizon. He bent down and felt her neck. There wasn’t any visible damage other than the red marks on her neck, which looked more like fingerprints than cuts. Tyson held Katie in his arms as she coughed and spluttered on the ground.
“I’m fine,” she said weakly, trying to pick herself up from the ground. Tyson wasn’t convinced and helped her get up. He made sure that Katie was steady on her feet before releasing his grip on her.
“I’m okay,” she said again.
Cyrus came over. He looked solemnly at her. “We need to keep going,” he said. “I’m going to check and see if we can salvage any of our belongings.”
He jogged back towards where the tent had been, but not before stopping himself and double-checking to ask Katie if she was all right.
Katie stood there, rubbing her neck and looking at the ground. She felt fine, but she knew there was something wrong. Not with her, but something else. She wasn’t sure what, though.
Tyson was standing close to Katie as if she were about to fall. Cyrus came back ten minutes later. “There’s nothing left. All gone, turned to dust.”
“What made her disappear?” Tyson asked.
“The sunlight must have done it,” Cyrus said.
Katie looked to the sky. There wasn’t much sunlight and Katie could still easily see the stars. Though the sky was a lighter purple color than it had been an hour previously when the world had seemed pitch black. Katie pointed this out to Cyrus.
“I think it is because she was so far from her resting place that even the slightest hint of sunlight caused her to fade away.”
“Do you think she’s dead?” Katie asked. “I mean, you know, relatively speaking. Is she gone forever?”
“No,” Cyrus said. “But for now. We should be safe, as well as the city folk who live in Ilon. But there will probably be a time when she returns for her next attack.”
Cyrus looked behind him, towards Ilon. “I know we’re all tired,” he said, “But we should keep on
