Page 97 of Ghostly Touches

“Jonah! Grab the keys to the van. Willow, Kwil, and Viktor move now!” Theodon roars as he rushes from the trees.

The wind increases. The temperature in the air drops abruptly, frost freezes the ground beneath my feet, and a foul stench permeates the air. A shriek, as loud and terrifying as a banshee’s, comes from the darkest part of the woods.

“What the hell is that?” Margaret whispers.

I glance at Theodon’s pale face. The urgency and fear in his voice is enough for me to not wait to find out what’s caused our leader to panic. Viktor is already moving. He shoves the woman out of the way without slowing down and hurries towards our van parked a few feet away. I turn around and catch Willow’s wrist as she rushes off the porch, pulling her towards our vehicle.

Willow…

Her name is whispered in the wind. I nearly stumble in surprise. Thankfully, I keep upright. I run her over to the van and nearly throw her into the back as Viktor slides the door open. Jonah is there a second later, tossing the keys to Theodon, who takes the driver’s seat.

Willow, I’m coming for you….

“Please tell me you guys hear that,” Willow asks as I rush around the car to get into the passenger seat.

“Yeah, I wish I didn’t though,” Jonah replies.

“No, Willow! Get back here!” Margaret yells as she runs over to us. Just as Jonah jumps in the back with Willow and Viktor, something large steps out of the tree line. Theodon turns the key in the ignition. At first, I don’t understand what I’m seeing. But as the thing emerges and stands straight up, my stomach nearly falls out of my body.

Its black armor covers it so completely there isn’t a single place on its body exposed. Its helmet has large spikes and ornate details, and on top is a black crown. There is no slit in the helmet where the eyes would be or ventilation for air. The chest plate has dents and dings, and the legs barely bend as it steps forward. The black knight must be nearly ten feet tall.

As Theodon floors the gas in reverse, I watch the knight raise one foot and stomp down on Margaret before she has a chance to scream.

“What the fuck is that!?” Jonah yells, his voice squeaky with terror.

Good question.

“AUtikyie.”

The whispered horror in Willow’s voice scares me nearly as much as the black knight. As Theodon hits the main road, he whips the car into a lane and shifts into drive. The tires squeal on the pavement and another knight steps out onto the road in front of us.

Willow, there’s no running from me.

It’s the knight,no, theUtikyiethat is speaking. As Theodon drives through the gap between its legs, it tries to grab for us. Luckily, it’s too slow.

“What’s a Utikyie?” Theodon demands, his voice tight.

“Better question: why aren’t we trying to kill it?” Viktor asks. “That thing is a threat to this world. We can’t let them just stomp around looking for the necromancer.”

“You can’t kill them.” Willow sounds breathless.

I can see the Utikyie in the side mirror turning around and walking after us. Though it grows smaller as we put distance between us, I have a sinking suspicion we’re not out of the clear yet.

“Utikyie are Guardians of the Pit in the Realm of the Dead,” Willow explains after a moment. “The pit is where they throw the worst of the worst souls or creatures too old and powerful to roam any realm. I thought they were a myth. Stories of the Utikyie are told by elder necromancers to scare kids who see spirits. Like the boogeyman or Krampus. You can’t kill them, and they don’t have souls. They’re literally just made of matter.”

Viktor grunts in annoyance. “There goes my idea.”

“If they belong in the Realm of the Dead, why are they here, Willow?” Theodon snarls. “And they have a voice, so they’re not made up of just matter.”

“I don’t know!” Willow huffs. “But the voice coming out of it is the same one that I hear calling to me when the book wants my attention.”

“What are we going to do now?” Jonah demands.

Theodon grimaces. “We need to get rid of the fucking book. It’s attracting monsters, possibly demons, and now it could have possibly summoned those Utikyie. Enough is enough. We’ll continue to Willow’s mother’s house afterwards.”

That reminds me. “We know who wrote the book.”

I tell him about the woman that came from their first warning. When I’m done, Theodon falls silent.

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