Part 26

"They're not gonna... I don't believe you!"

"Truth does not need belief to make it so."

"But..." David continued to protest, but his nascent belief weakened his words. "You're lying."

"I am forbidden such convinces," said Thule. "I may only speak the truth as I know it."

"Then you're just wrong!"

"I may be. But the dead of that mountain did call to me. The Lord of the Rune showed them to me.... carried their voices to my dreams, but not their words. Something called to you, too, did it not?"

"All I wanted was magic," David pouted. "The voice said it would show me magic. I thought it was a ghost. It wasn't, was it? It was... it was that thing, wasn't it?"

Thule's robe shifted as he shrugged. He looked at the burnt skull, thinking...

"It may have been," he said, finally. "I cannot say. But the dark spirit of this place would have no need to contact you directly. It may have done so as a form of petty torment, but why did it lead you to me? Whatever it was, it intended you to find me there, tonight. I think there is another explanation. With the demon drawing near, the veil between its world and ours is thin. IT can reach across whenever it pleases, but those others who reside with it... they may be trapped and powerless until such times as these. Trapped... and forgotten..."

Thule frowned, then nodded.

"I think the spirits of the forgotten... or one of them... drew us together. It lied to you, yes, but it was trying to save you. And help me."

The frown melted, replaced by Thule's version of a smile. To David it looked stern and sinister... but it was a smile nonetheless.

"It told me to find a name. He didn't know what his name was and wanted me to find it."

"Another misdirection... or misunderstanding on your part. We need a name for this darkness, boy. Their names are not like ours. Their names have power... and a connection to the spirit that bears it. Demons such as these have many names. It would have given the town one by which it may be summoned... but NOT one by which it may be controlled or cast out. It is that name... the second kind... the TRUE name...that I need. With that, if the name and my faith are strong enough, I can uproot this beast and cast it back into its pit. I can chain it there. It will end this town, but it will end the murder of innocents as well. What can you tell me of names, boy? Did this voice speak of it?"

"I TOLD you..." David whined. "...it didn't KNOW."

"Any names? Any words you did not understand? Did it speak ANY strange words at all?"

"It was a voice with no face, talking under a sleeping man's chair. Everything it said was strange!"

"It would know. A sacrificed child... it would abide with the beast; it would know many of the beast's names. Perhaps the child is bound, forbidden to speak it. So it sends you... to find me..."

Nodding, Thule held up the skull.

"Perhaps this is the face of your voice."

David shuddered.

"We will learn its secrets now. Perhaps a name... perhaps..."

"What's going to happen?"

"You wished to see magic? Now you will see strong magic indeed. Now we speak to the dead!"