As Harold, Penelope and Derek left the forest and went out into the mountainous part, Trisha and Wilkes began to see them from afar.
At first it was like their imaginations were playing tricks on them but as they inched closer to the trio who stood at a spot, it became clearer that they were actually the ones.
“Why'd they stop now?” Trisha asked as she crouched beside a tall tree. It's branches spread out way above her like a canopy and its smell was simply glorious.
“They're discussing something,” Wilkes replied as he took a few steps ahead of Trisha so that he had a better view. “I can't tell what it is they talking about,” he added, “but I guess it has to do with looking for the orb.”
“That has to be it,” Trisha replied as she moved away from the tree and stood beside Wilkes so that she, too, could see as clearly as he did.
“We have a problem,” Wilkes said suddenly, looking to his side.
By the time Wilkes Milton was awake, the three contestants whom he could see before by merely raising his head a little were long gone, leaving behind no sign that they were ever there.In shock, he looked around and saw Trisha on a log nearby with her eyes rested on him and arms sitting on her lap like a young lady being interviewed for a job. It took him a while to register what had happened but once he did, his eyes widened in shock at what Trisha had done.“You didn't wake me up on purpose!” he said accusingly, sitting up so that he could look at her better.She didn't flinch at what he said but merely looked at him as if he was but an insect meant for some laboratory experiment and she was noting down his response to situations.“Why didn't you?” he added. His anger had fueled considerably but still, Trisha remained unmoving which made him even angrier. It was like he was talking to a statue and expecting some
“Is this what we're looking for?” Harold asked cautiously as the three of them encircled the glowing substance that was on the ground. The floor around it was rocky with white stones that also sparkled a little, perhaps because of the glow emanating from what had held the contestants' attention.“We weren't even given a detailed description of what we were sent to find!” Penelope remarked in a frustrated tone.“There's only one way to find out if this is it,” Derek said without taking his eyes off it.Of the three, he inched towards it closer with slow footsteps while Harold stayed back, waiting for whatever it was that took Wolves on a yearly basis. It was beguiling that so far, he hadn't seen any signs of its existence but he remained alert, trusting his wolf to warn him of impending danger.Derek bent down to pick it up and Harold held his breath, hoping for the best yet prepare for the worst.
The ghoul which was beginning to land heavy punches on Penelope who was barely conscious stopped and turned its neck three hundred and sixty degrees till it was staring at Harold with dark hollows dug into its head, representing his eyes.It was true what Trisha had guessed. The 'shadows' which they now knew as ghouls had been barely visible down in the cavern. Now they were although smoky, a lot lot easier to spot. It had to do with the full moon."The long arm of the goddess will always catch up with you," it responded before returning to pummeling on Penelope whose hair had peeled off her head and was scattered all over with touches of red blood here and there.Harold turned to look at Derek. He looked like a convulsing patient and his eyes had turned pure black. He was still on the ground, making quick, sudden jerks but nothing more.Harold let his wolf which was beginning to chew on his insides as it ached to b
Trisha and Wilkes fell silent as they both debated on who the message was from, it was to and what it meant."Do you think it is to Harold?""It is possibly anyone but I doubt it is to him. It will only make things more puzzling if it is.""It could be to Derek," Wilkes suggested. "Not Derek exactly but the ghoul in him."A long paused followed."Yes, it can. But why will they need to communicate with that ghoul alone if...?Trisha lost her ability to talk when the three contestants started running towards them like they were being chased.Although they couldn't hear what it was, Penelope stopped on her tracks all of a sudden and started talking. Then Harold pointed at the red sky and that was enough to propell her forward but before she took more than two steps, a ghoul attacked and sent her to the ground before pummeling on her like she was nothing but a pun
After Harold fell to the ground and it was registered that he wasn't getting up soon, there was a long silence between Trisha and Wilkes.They watched as the ghouls surrounded him and the two others like they were about to be sacrificed, chanting the mantra; "the long arm of the goddess will always catch up with you."After it had been chanted about half a dozen times, in an orderly fashion, the ghouls slowly picked up the three numb bodies and arranged them side by side like corpses about to be buried."What is happening here?" Wilkes asked, not daring to even blink his eyes lest he missed anything important."I wish I could answer that," Trisha said as she pushed her eyeglass up her nose with much more intensity than she ever had. She had to see all that was happening. "What is baffling me, though, is why Penelope and Derek were attacked. From Francis' journal, it is the wolves that bear the brunt of it
Trisha used the next couple of seconds to recollect herself from the floor but when she was up and running, there was no stopping her.From where she was, she took a few steps and sprang a surprise attack on the ghoul in the closest proximity to her which unfortunately had its attention fixed on Wilkes that was causing a lot of havoc, too.She jumped on its back which was quite weird as the ghouls were a mixture of both solid and (murky) gasses but before she thought of anything, shoved her wand deep into its ear and it roared tremendously.It swayed left and right, flew up into the air a little then landed again as it wanted to get Trisha off its back but she was cognizant that one silly mistake was all it'll take for her life to end, hence, she held on to the ghoul tighter.When the ghoul was beginning to accept that whatever that was attached to its bag will be there for a long time and was becoming les
Out of desperation, Trisha McLeon emptied all the water she and Wilkes had gotten from the lake in their water bottles on Harold.At that moment, better than anyone else, she understood how crucial it was that they started going back to school. She was skeptical about going back there but unfortunately, there was no other place to go to.Harold's face was expressionless and unmoving even in that moment of pure peace. Although she was scared to think of it, he was almost dead. The wolfsbane had affected him greatly."Wake up!" she growled as she frustratedly held on to the collar of the shirt he had on and yanked it, trying to see if that will wake him up but his body simply bounced up as she pulled him forward by his shirt and fell back to its normal, peaceful posture when she let go.She had tried all the healing spells she knew in the space of the fifteen minutes she had rested their backs against a rock whi
Dr. Giovanni, the Vice Chancellor of Golden Lake University, held the paper that had been handed to him in his hands as he watched Chloe leave his office.He knew who she was; the student professor Ericson had been having an affair with. The affair lasted for a couple of weeks, about five, but all that had gone down the drain now. That hadn't been the reason why Dr. Giovanni had suspended professor Ericson, though. No. He'd known about the forbidden affair but didn't care at all which was very unprofessional of him.The only reason why professor Ericson had sent him away was because of the threat he posed to the success of the contest. He, Ericson, had warned Harold but hadn't given him specific details of the contest and from what was in Dr. Giovanni's hands, he could see, too, that Ericson had given Harold a map which was mentioned at the end of the letter he'd written to Harold before departing, and a list of the things he need