Chapter 6

Do you two know each other?” Seleeku asked.

“No, not really.”

“It sure seems like it.”

“It must be mistaking me for someone else.” Somehow, Brynn was sure that the bonewalker thought he was Kodroth.

“So, are you going to talk to it, or what?”

“It’s not that simple.” How to connect with an undead skeleton? It was watching him expectantly.

Brynn gulped and stepped forward, extending his hand.

The bonewalker studied Brynn a moment more. Then it strode up to him and gave Brynn a firm handshake. It was cold and slimy and bony all at the same time. Brynn did his best not to flinch.

Kodroth? Is that you? You are here, but you are not? The bonewalker’s teeth clacked as it moved its jaw, but Brynn heard the words in his mind.

“What’s it saying?” interjected Seleeku.

“Um, I’m unsure.”

You are Unsure? You are Kodroth … the Unsure? The bonewalker mulled over the name for a moment.

“Are you talking to it or not?”

“Hold on.”

I am holding on, Kodroth the Unsure. Holding onto this world. There is no rest for me. No rest for me until I atone for my sins.

“I don’t like this,” Seleeku said, flatly.

“I’m sorry.”

Yes, Kodroth the Unsure, you should be sorry. You set me down the path of my damnation. I took that path willingly, though. The blame is mine.

“You need to tell me what it’s saying. I can see it’s jaw moving, you know.”

“Wait,” Brynn stammered, “you’re confusing me.”

You are confused? Do you not know who I am? I am Arasen, your faithful servant. You entrusted me to fulfill a great mission. You sent me to Brightmyst, Kodroth the Unsure.

“Stop! Stop!” Brynn said. He waved his hands at Seleeku and Arasen. They both stood silently, mouth and jawbone hanging slightly open. Neither looked happy at being interrupted.

Brynn took a deep breath and pointed at Arasen. “What was your mission in Brightmyst?”

You don’t remember, Kodroth the Unsure? I will help you. I will show you where it all started.

“No, don’t!” cried Brynn.

“Don’t whatttttt?…” Seleeku began to ask, but her face was shimmering, the color of the sky was changing, the world was melting, everything was swirling around him in a dizzying spectacle. Brynn tried to hold on to his surroundings, but to no avail.

Seleeku, the swamp, the bonewalker, he repeated to himself.

Seleeku, the swamp, …?

Seleeku, …?

…?

---

“Brynn! Pay attention!” Master Fanir thwacked his pointing stick at the floor with a sharp snap. Brynn jumped in startlement.

He was in one of the damp and musty classrooms in the College of Galdir, looking up at a demon situated on the room’s stone ceiling. The demon looked … hungry? Brynn wasn’t familiar with demons. He avoided them when possible.

“The pentagram, apprentice. We will be catching our first demon today, yes?”

The other apprentices were watching Brynn. He caught the smirks on some of their faces. He was the last one to attempt to entrap the demon in the pentagram. The rest had already succeeded at the task. According to Master Fanir, at least. As far as Brynn could tell, the demon had never moved the entire time.

Master Fanir pointed at an ancient tome located on a pedestal in front of the pentagram. “Whenever you are ready, apprentice.”

The tome was The Codex of Essus, one of the few surviving writings of the Old Ones. It contained a wealth of information about demons, including the ritual of entrapment. The book was already open to the correct page. All Brynn had to do was speak the incantation recorded within. He read the first phrase:

Aevsu ahchierch zahma uuohpei

Brynn squinted at the words, trying to make them out as best he could. He found the Old Tongue difficult to read under the best of circumstances. This book was old. The ink was faded and the scribe’s handwriting was bad. The letters seemed to jump back and forth on the page. How had the other apprentices pronounced everything so perfectly?

“Ahvesu, ach … erch, zahama, …” Brynn slowly struggled through the words.

“By the Three Peaks, we’ve lowered our entrance standards, haven’t we,” muttered Master Fanir, impatiently.

Brynn glanced up and saw Master Fanir frowning. Just behind him, Brynn also noticed a skeleton propped up in the corner of the classroom. It was sometimes used for anatomy lessons. Was its jaw moving? Something nagged at him in the back of his mind.

“Brynn, you need to concentrate!”

Chengohzie vijedo i ohgohr taaquaed guhahqu heerou leeyoo

“Chengoozy, vigeedoo, eh, oogoor …” Brynn clumsily sounded out individual syllables. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his robes and continued on:

Nijt jad ahzua thoodahtu efofieth osohw teebeif omaizei

“Nijit, gad, ahzooa, …” As he mumbled his way through the ritual, he felt a forgotten dinner roll in one of his pockets. He’d intended to save it for a midnight snack. Master Fanir’s frown was in full force now. Brynn knew his incantation was horribly mangled. He had to try something else.

He tossed the roll into the pentagram.

There was a loud pop. The sudden stench of rotten eggs filled the air. Several of the apprentices gagged. Master Fanir’s frown turned into a grimace. But the demon was in the pentagram. The roll had turned into a puff of acrid smoke. Brynn could sense the demon’s contentment.

“Brynn! You’ve ruined everything!” Master Fanir waved his pointing stick at the charred remains of the pentagram. The fetid air was becoming more pungent. It smelled familiar. Like a swamp?

Brynn had the unpleasant feeling of being watched.

It was the demon. Its attention was fully focused on him. That wasn’t good. A sense of dread began to overcome Brynn.

“Why would you toss a piece of bread into the pentagram?” Master Fanir yelled incredulously. “And you didn’t even finish the incantation! Do you think this is some kind of game!”

Brynn forced his gaze away from the pentagram and looked back down at the tome. Somehow he had missed the end.

Seleeku

He eyes fell on the last line and his heart raced. He recognized that word. Was none of this real? He shouted out the final phrase.

“Seleeku!”

---

“Are you alright, Brynn? You look a little pale,” Seleeku asked. Brynn stumbled backward, his stomach roiling.

You are not Kodroth. You are … Unsure, the bonewalker said uncertainly. The bonewalker looked around and seemed to notice Seleeku for the first time. It crouched down near the fallen dagger and began reaching for it.

You must not trust—

Seleeku moved with sudden swiftness, swinging her quarterstaff at the bonewalker’s temple. Its skull flew off far into the swamp, landing with a murky splash into the foul water. The rest of the skeleton crumbled apart, bones tumbling to the ground. Its magic had been broken.

“Huh! I can’t believe that worked,” said Seleeku with genuine astonishment.

Questions swirled in Brynn’s head. Why had the bonewalker shown him that memory? What was its mission? Who couldn’t he trust? Seleeku? He stared at the dagger, still stuck in the mud, and noticed writing on the hilt.

Runes. The same kind of runes he had seen on the Fence.

He was beginning to realize that something had guided him here to Brightmyst and the Far Forest. Something besides the Druids of Galdir and their mission to investigate what was, as far as they were concerned, probably nothing. Brynn had the sinking feeling that it was something beyond the mortal realm. He needed to find out what it was.