We turn a corner, and the Skulled balloon in front of us stops briefly as the music changes before continuing on. We pass a hallway, and I get a quick glance at a sign across the room that says “EXIT”.
“Wait!” I yell, halting everyone. “There’s an exit.” I point and start to head down the hallway, but Chester yells back.
“What about the death balls?”
“There’s blue, so they should be safe. Let me try. If they aren’t, I’ll run back real quick so we won’t lose him,” I explain before running forward and passing through like I was hoping.
Moni lets out a whoop before following along with the others. We head down the hall until I stop dead in my tracks, and Levi slams into my back.
“What's wrong? Why did we st?—”
“GHOSTS!” I yell out, and two turn the corner at the end, heading toward us.
Unfortunately, the ghosts aren’t as cute as I remember in the human version of this game; these are more like ghouls.
“Aren’t they harmless or something like that in this game?” Knox asks. “I mean, if the balls are now harmless, shouldn’t the ghosts be?”
“Well, we’re not in the actual game, remember? This is Hell, and I wouldn’t trust anything on this level,” I quickly call out as I take on a fighting stance and size up the bigger ghost on the right. It’s reddish, but white wisps flow off of it as if they are alive, feeling their way along the floor. The ghost on the left looks like a praying mantis but is the size of a wolf and is flashing white and pink.
Shit, our time of safety is about to run out.
“That flashing means we’re about to revert back to everything being deadly,” I warn as the ghosts sprint toward us, still a good fifty feet away.
Moni flies next to me and claps her hands like a miniature hulk, sending her boom straight for the ghost. The shock waves pass over them like a breeze, and Moni turns to me with wide eyes, looking like a glitter ball.
“Zeke?” She whimpers in fear. “That was my one-shot pony.”
“They're not tangible. Levi, do you have a spell to help here?” I ask, my voice catching slightly in my throat as I grab Moni’s hand and start backing up.
“Not off the top of my head,” is his answer.Fuck.
“Aren’t they dead?” Chester points out.
“Kinda the point of me calling them ghosts,” I mock, not being helpful at all.
“Dude,” Chester retorts. “That’s the point I’m making. Aren’t you a Necromancer? Can’t you just control them?” he reminds me.
“Oh yeah!” I perk up, suppressing the blush that wants to appear at my thoughtlessness.
Tapping into my darker powers, I easily search and find the ghosts’ essences before grabbing ahold of them, taking control, and halting their approach in mere seconds.
Wow. Talk about an upgrade. It normally takes me a few minutes to take control like this.
Wondering what else I can do, I send out my powers, searching for others that are near, blinking owlishly at what I find.
“You guys might want to stand close,” I warn. “We’re about to have more company.”
My magic weaves through the unseen fibers below us, seeking and filtering the particles of a long-forgotten past. Theground around us starts to shake, and Moni shrinks and lands on my shoulder to pull on my ear.
“Zeke! What’s going on?” she shrieks, flying in front of my face! “What are you doing?”
“Bringing in reinforcements.” I laugh maniacally and watch as Moni’s eyes get bigger before she tucks back into Chester’s side.
That was probably mean of me, but I’ve never felt this good about my powers actually being needed for something meaningful. Most of my kin were slaves to Purgatory, doing what was demanded of them or put down like dogs. I’m free and using my power for righteousness. Finally.
Except for the issue that I’m in hell doing this, which might look bad, but that isn’t the point.
The ground explodes as fifty spirits pop up through the ground like daisies and materialize around us. Some are incorporeal, while others are in different stages of decay, but all of them have their attention on me.
