Part 16

The sound was faint, but close.

David spun and, with his back to the cliff overlooking the cemetery, stared out at the wasteland beyond the far side of the hill. An instant later he dropped his eyes to the downward slope. An angry-looking tree stabbed skyward not far away. Between him and it, grass and shrubs clung to the soil like solid knots of shadow.

One of them moved.

"AAAH!!!" David shrieked as the shape charged him. It was a wraith! One of the ravenous spirits from the cemetery must have circled around behind him, and now it sprang. A gray shroud flapped behind it as it came; David saw wide streaks of fresh blood staining the cloth. The face was coal black, with an even deeper darkness where the eyes should have been. In one hand the creature held a massive wooden scythe... already swinging it with such speed that the blade was invisible. Clutched in the other hand was a black skull... possibly the creature's own decomposing head... possibly the remains of a previous meal.

David told his feet to move. He WILLED his legs to carry him back away from the thing

But they would not move. Which meant that HE was not moving. Which meant that he was going to die horribly and soon.

"MAMAAAAA-" He shrieked.

The sound of his own voice loosened his feet. He stepped back, turning-

Something struck his legs... HARD. So hard that for a second he was off the ground...

...then on it again, flat on his back and staring up at the monstrous face of his own doom.

"Shhhhhh, boy!" said the monstrous face of his own doom.

David blinked in dazed confusion. Then screamed again-

Something flew at his face. A hand clamped down over his mouth as the bloody gray cloak descended around him. Only now the cloak was more bloody and gray...
in fact, now that it was closer David saw that dark red was the thick garment's natural color, with the gray coming from a layer of dust and dirt that fell off of it in thick clods as the shape settled onto him.

Gone, too, was the scythe. It had fallen beside him, and he could see now that it was a staff... equal parts weapon and walking stick, but clearly devoid of the curved blade he swore he'd almost seen an instant ago. The face that looked down at him was human... pale and dirty... with a pair of dark but ordinary eyes barely visible in the confines of the dark red hood.

The skull was.... was still a skull.

David screamed into the strange man's hand

"SHH!" The stranger pressed harder. David felt a knee settle onto his chest. "I'll not harm a child, but damned if I'll let your shrieking kill us both! Now be SILENT!"

David fell silent. The stranger looked out across the top of the Hill and scrutinized the darkness for a moment before returning his eyes to David's face. He removed his hand from David's mouth. A second later, the knee vanished from his chest.

The stranger knelt over him, frowning.

David looked up... whimpering as quietly as he could manage.

"Who are you?" they both said at once.