The Ghost Swamp

"What the...fuck was that," Erigos said his voice shrill, his face pale.

"No idea...whatever it was, it's gone now." Harim returned his attention to the crocodiles who had made quick work of the snake. They began to advance, circling around the Sect. Rothox began throwing daggers, Alissa tossed fire bolts, and Erigos swung his sword but there were too many. Harim looked out, getting a cold feeling, seeing the ghastly visage dangling in the air. It opened its mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. They all covered their ears as the brutal sound weaved its magical power. A few crocodiles skulked back into the water while the majority fell over dead. Their minds were unable to withstand the psychic power. The wailing stopped and the creature vanished.

Their ears were ringing. "Holy shit," Rothox glanced at the massacre around them, a trail of blood trickling out of his ear.

"We've got to go, now." Harim tapped him on the shoulder. The creature was back. "Alissa, we need that spell."

"On it." She had already begun to cast it her hands making the motions. With the ability to walk on water restored they began to sprint across the swamp.

As they ran they saw the being chasing them. Harim was out front and pulling away. He continually scanned ahead for any other ghostly images. He saw two more appear. One directly in front of him and another just off to the left. There were three of them now, although the second two looked different. They were further away but they didn't look as terrifying as the first one. They appeared as translucent humans; they were ghosts. This other thing that was chasing them was something else, it was a banshee.

The two ghosts didn't attack or chase after them as they ran by, they just hung in the air watching, staring with their empty eyes. The banshee screamed again, it was different from the deadly wail, this one was out of frustration. It wasn't able to keep up with the Sect. However, it had a major advantage to catching them, it wouldn't get tired. Harim checked over this shoulder, he was quite ahead of his friends, he slowed down to let them catch up. He wasn't tired but the sound of heavy breathing from Erigos told him he was. He was also the only one wearing heavy armor. Standing in the middle of the swamp was not a good idea, they needed to find cover. The banshee had slowed its pursuit. Weaving towards them, knowing it had the upper hand.

"Is it giving up?" Rothox said.

"I don't believe so. I think it knows we are getting tired." Harim scanned for a safer place to stop. "There, let's head to that. If we have to fight it...if we can fight it, that will offer us cover. " He pointed to a thick dead and gnarled tree. He took off. The others followed, Erigos clunking along.

The blackened tree, at one time, could have been a giant of the forest. All that remained now was a wide rotting trunk with a hole in its body, large enough for a small person to crawl into. The few remaining barren branches were thick, offering some form of cover. The banshee drifted towards this tree, but stopped short, tilting its head. The sect huddled together around the other side. Rothox worked his way up the back of the tree, getting a height advantage. The banshee drifted closer.

"Now!" Harim yelled.

Rothox threw his summoned daggers down from his hiding spot. They slid through the incorporeal form as if passing through the air. The banshee screamed, they were unsure if it was in pain or not. Erigos' sword lit up, he stepped out from behind the tree and sliced through the ghastly being. Alissa threw the knife of ice, which passed through the ghastly figure but as it did, the knife exploded inside of it. If a ghost could look injured this one did. Harim went last, hoping to finish it off. He didn't have magic of his own but he focused hard on his punch as he jumped off the tree, slamming his fist into what would be the chest. The banshee screamed its visage wavered before bursting into thousands of formless shards.

"We did...it." Erigos let his sword fall forward, keeping a loose grip on the hilt.

"Harim your fist!" Alissa looked at him.

Harim looked at his fist. It was glowing. "That's never happened before."

"You've also never punched a ghost before," Erigos laughed, "...Or have you?"

"First time, I didn't know I could."

"You monks are filled with surprises." Rothox hopped off his branch landing beside Harim. He grabbed his hand, the fist had faded back to normal. "Looks like a normal fist," Rothox let it go.

"With or without the glow, it isn't a normal fist," Harim winked.

"Weren't there more of these ghosts?" Alissa was checking where they had come from.

"I don't think she was a ghost but yes there were two other ones, although they didn't seem to be bothered by us." Harim scratched his knuckles.

"Not a ghost?" Erigos poked the spot where she had disappeared with his blade, getting a little mud on the tip.

"I don't know what it was, it was like a ghost but tormented," Harim said.

"So like a screaming ghost?" Alissa asked.

"Sure that works...we should keep moving. I would suggest not staying in the swamp overnight and we keep pushing through till we get clear."

"Agreed," Erigos pulled his sword out of the mud. He whipped his sword, flinging the mud off.

Alissa had to cast the water walking ability two more times, luckily it didn't take a lot out of her, it just consumed a few items she carried for such spells. There were small treks of land that they didn't need her magic and times when the swamp was shallow and easier to move through. They navigated around a handful of crocodiles and saw a few more ghosts in the distance during the journey but because of Alissa's spell, they moved quickly and for the most part quietly.

It was late and the only light was Alissa's orbs guiding them through the murkiness. Harim finally spotted the edge, seeing trees with leaves. He didn't stop when they got out, creating distance between them and the swamp before coming to rest an hour beyond. Finally, they were out of the swamp. Rothox's stomach grumbled. They hadn't eaten in two days, finishing their rations in the dragon's lair.

"Erigos, can you help me hunt or scrounge for something to eat?" He asked the elf who was laying on his back drinking from his waterskin, which too was getting perilously low.

"Argh, fine." He rolled to his feet and trudged into the forest after the demonblood, grumbling. They were all exhausted.

Alissa had already started her fire trying to dry herself off. Harim took this opportunity alone with her to ask some questions.

"So, your parents were researching the fog, do you know who asked them to?"

She looked at him confused, "Nobody asked them."

Harim was puzzled, "They were researching it voluntarily?"

Alissa blinked, "It's what they did, they researched plenty of things, or so my auntie told me."

"Your auntie?"

"She took care of me when they went on their trips and when my parents vanished she took care of me until she got married." She hung her head. "But her husband didn't want me around anymore so they gave me to the orphanage." She looked about to cry.

"Hey, Hey, I know the feeling. Tell me about your parents, they sound amazing."

That cheered her up, " They were! They could do so many wonderful things and always brought back the coolest toys from their trips."

"What kind of things could they do?"

"They were both wizards. My auntie told me that people would come to them for help on anything magically."

"You must have learned a lot from them?"

She looked sad, "They were gone a lot, so not really. I mostly played with my toys."

"What kind of toys?"

"A doll, a carving of a horse, a puzzle box...Ooh, one time they gave me a wand that made flowers."

The puzzle box was interesting to Harim. "This puzzle box, what was inside it?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, I could never open it."

"Do you still have it?"

"Umm, no but I know where it is. I left it at the palace. Do you think you could figure out how to open it?" She was getting excited again.

"I can try if you let me." He smiled and gave her a side hug. They sat there in silence watching the fire for a few minutes.

A twig snapped and they both looked into the darkness. Rothox and Erigos emerged with a handful of berries and a dead rabbit.

"Who's hungry?" Rothox was beaming.