Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 44

by Meredith Skye

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Rian felt chilled, his mind sluggish. They'd made it into the Old Mill, hoping to free Ehina who was being held by the necromancer, along with some of the townsfolk. But a rotting corpse had bitten Rian before they'd managed to kill it. Now, he felt dizzy and weak.

"We'll find Ehina and the others and get them out. We can't turn back now," said Rian. The others nodded solemnly.

"You should rest," said Aldena.

"When?" asked Rian. "There's no time." The others were distracting Molan so as to give them time invade the Old Mill and complete their mission. There wasn't time to sit around. "Let's just do this," he said. He continued down the hall and Aldena followed.

Rian tried to put the pain out of his mind, turning his attention to the situation at hand. First they had to find Ehina and the others. Was his mother here also? He didn't know. He hoped she was still alive and that Molan hadn't turned her into a zombie ... or worse.

And what about his little brother, Kye? Could he be here? Or had he gone with Molan back up to the crypt? All these doubts nagged Rian. Almost, he didn't want to encounter his brother, who had been turned into a magic-spawn by the necromancer.

The others fell behind and let Rian lead. He gripped his sword more tightly. The hall went forward maybe 30 feet then intersected another hall.

Bernard's Electra-bat was still burning like a torch. He tried blowing it out, but to no effect. He looked at the others apologetically. "This one's a goner." He shrugged.

"It's okay," said Aldena. She turned off her flashlight and put it away. They all continued forward.

"I came here once as a teenager," admitted Bernard. "My friends and I wanted to stay the night to prove that we weren't afraid. Can't remember who it was that bet we couldn't do it."

"So, what happened?" asked Rian. "Did you see anything?"

"We lasted about two hours," said Bernard. "I thought I saw ... something."

"What?" asked Aldena, curious.

Bernard was a big man, but right now a little fear showed in his eyes. "I went upstairs to look around. That floor is open. Most of the walls have rotted out. There, in the center of what should have been a room, I thought I saw a man in a black cape with his back to me. But when he turned around, he slowly vanished right before our eyes."

Rian had stopped to listen. The story gave him the shivers.

"So, we high-tailed it out of there, like little girls. Some of the others heard voices. That was the last time I ever tried that."

"Hmph," said Aldena, skeptically.

"We should totally do that next Halloween ... assuming this zombie thing gets taken care of. No, even better ... we'll do a haunted house. It would be so awesome!" said Bernard.

"Okay. Let's focus," said Aldena looking at Rian. Great. That story really set the mood.

Warily, Rian began moving forward again, reaching the intersection. Now, another hall continued to the left, maybe 50 feet. No sign of any monsters lurking in the hall. On the right side was a doorway. Part of the wall next to it had crumbled, leaving a 15 foot long open ending before the doorway. The room looked empty but Rian couldn't be sure. "Watch the hall, Bernard," said Rian.

"Who ... me?" he asked nervously.

Rian nodded at Aldena and they entered the room. Aldena turned on her flashlight. It was one long room, the entire width of the building, maybe 60 feet long. It was full of dust, bits of wood, and crumbled stone.