Part 27

"For the Lord of the Rune is master of both the living and the dead. He has set them in their separate spheres. His hand rests between them so that neither may have mastery over the other... only the dead may command the dead, and only the living may rule the living. All else is an abomination before the Lord of the Rune."

David regarded the robed stranger with confused curiosity.

"What-"

Thule quickly raised one finger. David fell silent.

"But He has given us names that may be whispered across the spheres. The names of power and peace... the names of wisdom and strength, by which his hand may be moved... but only by those of faith."

David realized that Thule was not talking to him, but was reciting some sort of spell...

"With faith, I speak the names. With faith, I seek knowledge of the dead. With faith, I step between the spheres, and with faith, I close my eyes and place my ear to the wind..."

Gravious Thule closed his eyes, but his lips continued to move.

The strange syllables that slipped from them were soft whispers that nevertheless seemed to cut the air. Each puff of breath was like a hard thump against David's ears. He winced... but dared not speak.

The air grew cold around them.

David listened intently, trying to commit the words to memory as they were spoken. But he couldn't. The syllables flowed across the surface of his mind like ripples in a rain barrel. Not only were the words foreign, but the very sounds that composed them seemed utterly alien... as if they weren't made for human mouths at all. The stranger's tongue wielded them surreal dexterity, however, weaving them into a chant that quite literally chilled the air.

David felt something else, as well. Something was close... very close. He shuddered atop his stone chair and looked around for the hungry boy-eating spirits that the stranger had called. He saw nothing, but he felt them all around him. They had brought the sudden cold with them, and David hoped they'd hadn't brought their appetites as well.

The sudden silence snapped his attention back to Thule. The robed man had turned his face away from him and brought the half-burnt skull to his ear.

He was listening.

David listened to, but all he heard was his own heartbeat.

They sat in silence for long, shivering seconds.

Thule grunted.

And instant later, the supernatural cold withdrew with a suddenness that dispelled any pretense at a natural source.

Thule lowered the skull and sighed.

"Did... did it work?" A spark of curiosity held back his disappointment. He hadn't seen or heard anything at all.

"The dead are afraid to speak," Thule turned to David. "But one has shown me a place we must go."

"We? I... I have to go, too?"

"This spirit does not trust me. It does not know me. But it DOES know you, boy. It showed me your face. It will speak... to you."

"ME!?"

"Yes. Perhaps owner of this skull and of your voice in the shadows are one in the same. Although... of all the children this spirit has taken, how is THIS one able to reach out to you?" Thule thought for a moment. "Do you have the gift, boy? Do you speak with the dead often?"

"N-no..."

Th stranger frowned.

"That, alone, would not explain it. Something else is happening here with you. Something hidden. But we will know it soon enough!"

Thule stood and looked around for a moment. Then he pointed. David saw nothing out in the darkness.

"That way. The vision I saw. A burnt place, near a barn."

David considered the direction that Thule pointed.

"That's the farm!"

"You know-"

"The barn where the voice talked to me! There used to be a house there, but it burnt down. My dad owns it now. It's that way."

"This place is close to your home?"

"Well... I always thought it was far, but... not really."

"It is abandoned? You go there often?

"Yeah... why?

"Good. It would have been one of the first places they searched. They will not return to it soon... if at all. Come, boy."

Thule started walking as if he knew the way. After a moment, David followed.