Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 8

by Meredith Skye

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Silently, Kyran followed the skeleton, who took no notice of him, down through the cemetery toward the unsuspecting camp. No amount of pleading had any effect. The skeleton stalked onward. Resigned, Kye followed it at a distance, horrified at the scene that would soon unfold. What would the creature do?

But another part of Kyran, deep down, was secretly pleased. At last, he wasn't the helpless one. He felt a sense of power that he'd never felt before and it felt good. Strangely ... it felt right.

Not sure what would happen, and not wanting to get blamed for it, Kyran hung back as the skeleton approached the Ashlake Campground. His heart was pounding. He wanted to scream out a warning but fear had paralyzed him. Now he just watched as the decaying creature plodded towards the pavilion, spear in hand.

Harlan sat in front of the pavilion in a crumpled green tunic. Next to him sat Lenore, Grandma Baggins, dealing out a hand from her deck of cards. The old card table they used was full of baked goods and Halloween candy, no doubt to give to any trick-or-treaters. Next to Lenore the walkie-talkie sat on its charger. She liked to run "dispatch" as she called it, being one of the few who were certified to run a high powered radio. She also had a Hamm radio license.

The distress became overpowering and Kyran left his safe place back by the fence and he sprinted towards the pavilion, hoping to get there before the skeleton.

Meanwhile, Harlan and Lenore had seen the creature and were admiring it. "Great costume, dude!" said Harlan, not bothering to get up. "That's awesome. You look so real! How did you do it?"

The skeleton only made indistinct groaning sounds as it raised its spear.

Kye ran out in front of it. "Stop!" he screamed. "Leave them alone!"

"Ho, Kyran. Yay, we're saved!" joked Harlan. "Hey, where've you been?"

The skeleton continued forward towards the group without stopping.

"Kill it!" shouted Kyran. "Hurry!"

"What?" said Harlan. "I'm in the middle of a game." Lenore smiled. She'd finished dealing the cards.

The skeleton came to a halt in front of them, looking in turn from Harlan then to Grandma Baggins. It made a low growling noise.

Grandma Baggins held up a tray of treats. "Cookie?" she offered.

The creature turned away from them and looked around until it seemed to fix on a direction, and began walking towards town. No doubt that's where Rian was. The creature must be looking for him.

Kye ran out in front of the skeleton as he walked. "No! Stop! Go back I said!" But the creature appeared not to hear and continued up the driveway towards the street. Kye looked back to Harlan and Lenore.

"It's getting chilly, Kyran. You should take your sweater with you," smiled Grandma Baggins.

Frustrated, Kyran turned and ran back towards the crypt. There had to be a way to stop the creature. He remembered the pale silver sword on the shelf—that looked like a sword that could fight a skeleton. Without looking back, Kye ran towards the cemetery.

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