Her feet crunched on the gravel path that wove between them until the gravel gave way to a loamy soil. She caught a flicker of movement a hundred feet to her left—a large, furry body that slowly undulated around a mushroom stalk.
Her stomach clenched. One of the caterpillars she had seen from Sotz’s back.
Another giant insect slithered to her right, its green body curling up a mushroom. She stared in horrified fasciation as it tore out a chunk of fungal flesh with an enormous pair of incisors.
But as she pressed forward, something else caught her attention—the resonant sound of Bael’s voice, chanting in Angelic. Time to hide. She slipped off the path, moving from stalk to stalk until she got a clear view of the action. She peered out from behind a mushroom, sweat dampening her clothes.
Turned away from her, Bael stood in the center of a clearing, surrounded by mushroom stumps. He wore his black riding cloak. Around him stood a cluster of demons dressed in gray cloaks, their hoods pulled over their heads. Even without seeing their faces, she could tell by their short stature they were oneiroi.
Bael finished his spell, and the oneiroi began to chant in another language—one she’d never heard before.
A chill deepened around her. Whatever spell they were casting, it channeled shadow magic. The oneiroi hunched closer together, and the temperature plummeted. Their voices rose into the air, and a sharp burst of shadow magic ripped through mushrooms. A silent detonation that slammed Ursula in the chest like a fist. Hollowness pierced her, and she fell to her knees, her body shaking from the blast of power.
The darkness threatened to pull her under, and for just a moment, she saw a flash of Bael, holding the knife to her chest.
Stay grounded, Ursula. She sucked in a breath, feeling the damp earth beneath her knees and hands. The air felt thick and warm again. She opened her eyes, her gaze landing on Bael. He still stood before the oneiroi, completely unperturbed, as if a massive blast of magic hadn’t just ripped through the mushroom forest.
Thick shadows coalesced around her, and magic simmered in her chest. The blast had completely recharged her body.
“Did the necromancy work?” asked Bael.
“I don’t know,” said a hooded oneiroi. “It hasn’t moved.”
She shifted position, trying to get a glimpse of what they were looking at. They seemed to be staring down at something in the center of the circle, but she couldn’t tell what.
“Again,” said Bael. “We must chant the channeling spell once more.” He pulled his hood over his head, chanting again in Angelic. Shadow magic flickered over Ursula’s skin.
Did he say necromancy? What the hell is he up to?
She needed a better vantage point. Her gaze flicked to a short mushroom about fifteen feet away. If she could get to the top of the mushroom, she’d have a clear view. Good thing I’m charged up with magic, now. She could shadow run there without a problem.
She stared at the mushroom’s cap, then let her body fill with shadow magic. She flitted through the air, reappearing on the mushroom’s cap. For a moment, she began to slide, then she dug her fingers into the mushroom’s flesh, its luminescent juices staining her hands.
She glanced up at Bael and the oneiroi, and her mouth went dry. They surrounded a prostrate form. Long and lean, he lay stretched out on the ground, his skin gray as a corpse. Had they killed him?
As Bael and the oneiroi chanted, the creature lay still as a grave. A chill of shadow magic raised goosebumps on her arms. Any second now, they were going to blast the air with magic again.
She crawled to the edge of the cap, then let herself drop down to the soft earth. She hurried behind a stalk, just managing to find cover when a second blast rocked the forest. Shadow magic blasted through her bones, and she fell to the ground. Ice seized heart, and the void spread through her veins like poison.
It called to her. Accept the darkness.
So easy to fall into the void...
Her fists tightened, and a fire roared in the hollows of her mind, a room in flames. The scent of burning flesh, agonized screams piercing the air. The best way to fight ice is with fire.
The ice in her chest thawed, and she crawled to her knees. She felt the warm dirt beneath her hands, pressing into her knees. I’m here, she told herself.
She glanced up at the strange coven. In the center of the circle, the corpse now stood.
“What are you?” said Bael.
“You know me as the Gray Ghost,” it said in a hollow voice.
Chapter 41
Something slithered in the corner of Ursula’s vision. A shudder crawled up her spine, and she slowly turned. One of the enormous caterpillars was descending the trunk of mushroom just above her head. Thick as an anaconda, with a head the size of a bowling ball, its mandibles snapped audibly. Fear slithered over her skin.
Bael’s voice rumbled through the forest. “Did you hear something?” He sniffed the air. “I smell something, too.”
Ursula’s stomach clenched. He can’t smell me?
“I’ll go check,” said one of the oneiroi.