The Sixth Ghost

The power Felix had in the Kodiak bear’s body was overwhelming. He chased Ernest through the halls of the mansion, momentarily forgetting everything but the unbelievable strength and speed he had now. His exhaustion and even his pain had fallen to the back of his mind.

Ernest looked back over his shoulder and lifted the Ironwood Wand. That was a mistake. With one swipe of his paw, Felix knocked the wand aside. As it clattered against the ground, some part of him thought he should grab it, but then Ernest was running again and that was all he could focus on.

Felix took the next corner too quickly and slammed into the wall hard enough to send a painting tumbling to the floor. He pushed forward, driving Ernest through an archway into a room. A dead end. He had Ernest cornered.

Ernest unleashed a blast of wind, but it wasn’t strong enough to move Felix. He was losing strength.

Footsteps sounded from the direction of the doorway. Ernest glared past Felix at the newcomer. “Took you long enough.”

The distraction caused Felix to lose his hold on the bear form. He shrank back into a human as he whirled around. A jolt of fear shot through him.

The necromancer stopped in the middle of the room and laughed. “We meet again.” He wore the same long white coat he had the night he attacked Felix and Jace, but the hood was down to expose his short curls of white hair.

“You,” Felix hissed.

“Actually, the name’s Hugo Underwood.”

“Enough, Hugo,” Ernest snapped. “I want the boy dead.”

Hugo clicked his tongue. “If you wanted him dead, you should have done a better job. I’m not killing him as long as Gideon’s still in there.”

“If we take him alive, we’ll regret it.”

Cold laughter echoed around the room. “Ernest, you think too small. We don’t need to kill him to stop him from being a threat.” A wicked grin crossed Hugo’s face. “He doesn’t need his legs and arms to live, now does he?”

Ernest lifted an eyebrow. “Fine. He’s all yours. I have to go find the wand, anyway.”

“No!” Felix flung out an arm. A bear arm, covered in brown fur and ending in sharp claws. He tried to reshape the rest of his body to match, but his form remained firmly human.

Hugo chuckled. “Oh, I have the perfect match for you.” He turned and assessed the room’s decor. “Taxidermy animals are harder to animate. All that stuffing puts them in this strange gray area between dead and inanimate. But I think I can—”

Ernest’s hands twitched at his sides. “Just shut up and do your job so I can get out of here!”

Two peacocks perched atop bookshelves took to the air and swooped at Felix. Felix knocked them aside with his bear hand and raced toward Hugo.

“What’s with all these scars?” Felix asked as he slashed at Hugo’s face.

Hugo ducked. “Bit rude to ask about that.”

“Bit rude to try to kill me.” Felix swung and missed again.

Hugo laughed. “These scars are a gift from your friend Archer. One of these days, I’ll have to repay the favor.”

Ernest attempted to run past Felix. Felix’s other arm took on the bear’s form as he jumped into Ernest’s path. He grabbed the man’s shoulders, and the two stumbled a few steps while Felix let his claws sink into skin. He picked Ernest up and threw him into the closest wall.

Hugo, meanwhile, brought a small bobcat to life and sent it after Felix. It pounced on him and knocked him on his back. The remaining few animals in the room joined the fray as Felix struggled to fight it off.

Through the pain of claws digging into his skin, Felix shouted, “Is this all you’ve got?” Besides the bobcat, his only enemies were some smaller birds and a rabbit.

“Don’t worry, there’s more on the way,” Hugo replied. Crashes echoed through the hall behind him.

The Kodiak bear that Felix had stolen a fang from burst into the room.

Felix threw the bobcat off of him and returned fully to his bear form. His arm swung as the stuffed bear reached him. The first blow landed, but his excitement was short-lived. The bear lashed out with its claws and left light scratches in Felix’s shoulder.

He quickly realized that had the advantage. Like the zombies—er, undead—this animal only had what remained of it. Skin and teeth and claws. Felix had bones and muscle and a massive bear’s heart pounding in his chest.

That advantage diminished as Hugo’s army grew. An antelope stumbled into the room, followed by a cougar and a dingo and several geese. Individually, they didn’t do much harm, but enough of them jumped on Felix at the same time to knock him down. His skin stung as teeth and claws and beaks tore at him.

Just as Felix managed to rip himself free and get back on all fours, a new voice spoke in his head.

You could die here.

Felix froze. The other bear slammed a paw into his chest and sent him staggering.

Laughter, the same laughter from his nightmares about the day his family died, reverberated through his mind. Seriously, kid, Gideon said. Admit you’ve screwed up and let me take over.

I’m not stupid. Felix let out a low growl. If I let you in, you’re never giving my body back. He threw himself at the bear and pinned it against the ground.

Of course not! I’m not giving you anything but an opportunity to live. I’ll take your body and your family to the Moonlit Army. Gideon laughed. Of course, if you’re not going to hand yourself over willingly, I’ll just put up a real fight. You’re tired, and—

“No!” Felix dropped back into his human form. The three geese flying his way crashed into the wall above him.

Ernest and Hugo had slipped out of the room. The wand. Felix needed to get the wand before they did. He sprinted out of the room. The swarm of undead animals followed, but they were thankfully slower than he was.

Once Felix was clear of the doorway, he transformed back into the Kodiak bear. He caught up to Ernest and Hugo easily, though part of his mind—what little he could cling to in the bear form—was occupied pushing back against Gideon. So far, at least, Gideon’s “real fight” didn’t take much focus to hold off.

Ernest and Hugo dove out of the way when Felix caught up. He slid past them, his claws scraping the floor. What had he come this way for?

Right. The wand. He spotted it lying on the floor near the end of the hall. He transformed back into a human and stumbled to an abrupt stop next to it. He picked it up. When he turned around, Ernest and Hugo were back on their feet, cautiously approaching.

“How hard is this thing to use, anyway?” Felix asked, examining it. Mason had just said simple words, and Ernest was able to use it without saying a thing.

“Felix, don’t be stupid. That thing’s dangerous.” Ernest reached out a hand. “Hand it over, and we can discuss saving you and your friends from any more trouble.”

Felix snorted. “Yeah, right.” He pointed it at Ernest. “Uh, let’s see, uh, how about—”

“You idiot, don’t—”

“Float.”

The magical energy that exploded from the wand knocked Felix onto his ass. It also launched Ernest and Hugo into the air. They slammed into the ceiling and drifted down a few feet, where they hovered.

Felix climbed to his feet. He leaned against the wall, trying to hide his pain from Ernest. The landing had sent it shooting through his bones. Every ache he’d ever felt had returned with a vengeance.

“That hurt pretty bad, didn’t it?” Ernest spat. “The Ironwood Wand isn’t a toy.”

Felix pointed the wand at him as a warning, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to use it again. Glaring up at Ernest, he said, “How about you tell me how you managed to get so many monsters on your side. Why are demons and spirits helping you fight the Guardians?”

“You really expect me to answer your questions?”

“Fine. I’ll just—” Felix’s hand tightened down the wand. Gideon’s presence had crawled back into his mind and was fighting for control, with more ferocity this time. Felix swallowed. “I’ll just leave the interrogation to the other Guardians.”

“Assuming they’re still alive,” Ernest said.

“Felix, you seem to be forgetting my own allies.” Hugo’s amused tone was an odd contrast to Ernest’s boiling anger. “You have about two seconds.”

“Huh?” Felix lowered his gaze. Oh, right, the animals—

The first goose collided with him, violently flapping its wings. The wand slipped from his hand and rolled away. Ernest and Hugo dropped to the ground.

“Hugo, take your army outside and make sure the battle’s under control out there,” Ernest ordered. He had a grimace on his face as he staggered to his feet, but kept his voice strong as he added, “I’ve got Felix.”

Felix chucked the goose into the nearest wall and raced for the wand. Ernest reached it first, but Felix got his hands around it, too, as Ernest raised it into the air. Felix stomped on Ernest’s foot and attempted to yank the wand free. Ernest’s jaw clenched as he pulled back.

Give it up, Felix, Gideon said, his voice singsong.

“Shut up!” Felix snapped.

Confusion flickered across Ernest’s expression. It was quickly replaced by a thin smile. “You’re fighting him, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Felix stopped struggling for a few moments before jerking the wand toward him, hoping to take Ernest by surprise. It didn’t work.

“Maybe Hugo was right,” Ernest said. “Give up the wand, boy.”

“I’m not letting go.” Felix’s grip tightened.

“Give it up,” Ernest pressed. “Unless you want to risk losing your battle with Gideon.”

“I’ve got him under control,” Felix insisted.

“Really? Why not shift back into the bear, then?”

Felix lifted his gaze, and his heart soared. A smile touched his lips. “I don’t need to.”

Ernest frowned. “What?”

The gold and white rug swooped down from the air above. Mason looked like he was going to be sick. Arisa, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She pumped a fist in the air and cheered as the rug she’d animated carried her right over Ernest’s head.

Ernest used the distraction to push Felix away with a blast of air. Felix lost his hold on the wand. Terror paralyzed him as Ernest took aim.

Mason reached down and grabbed Felix by the collar of his jacket. The rug shot up vertically, carrying Felix out of the wand’s range. With Mason’s help, he pulled himself up onto the top of the rug.

“He’s still got the wand—” Felix warned.

He barely got the words out before Mason slid off the carpet, hit the ground, and pointed his own wand at Ernest. They stared each other down.

“This wand is no good to you, demon,” Ernest said.

“You have a problem with me being a demon?” Mason asked. “You employ demons yourself.”

“‘Employing’ being the key word. They know their place. They wouldn’t dare call themselves Guardians. Or witches.” Ernest took a step forward. “Do you really think your parents would have wanted you to do this?”

Mason roared and charged forward. Hellfire swallowed him, starting at his hands and spreading until it covered his horns and boots and the tuft of fur at the end of his tail. The flames licked the wand in his hand, inching up toward the tip.

His wand exploded in a shower of purple sparks.

“See?” Ernest said as he sidestepped Mason. “You resort to demonic violence instead of using your head. And now your wand is gone.” He took aim with the Ironwood Wand.

“We have to help him!” Felix exclaimed as Mason narrowly dodged whatever spell Ernest had fired off. “Lower the rug!”

“I’m thinking!” Arisa looked to Felix. “What ability are you going to attack with?”

Felix hesitated. “I—I don’t have anything on me, except…”

“Except what?”

Felix pulled the bear fang from his pocket and held it up.

Arisa’s eyes widened. “Felix, what did you do?”

“It’s going to be fine, I—”

An explosion of hellfire beneath them knocked the rug off balance. They plummeted toward the floor. Arisa grabbed the front of the rug and pulled them up just before they hit the ground.

“Leave Ernest to me,” Arisa said.

“Are you sure?” Felix asked. “Animating the rug must have been—”

“I’m sure!” Arisa hissed. She immediately winced. “Sorry. I’ve got this.”

Glass animal figurines jumped off the shelves below. Arisa laughed as they converged on Ernest. “Take that, old man!”

While Ernest attempted to pry the figurines off himself, Arisa lowered the rug. Mason ran toward them, holding up the Ironwood Wand. “Let’s get out of here!” he shouted. He jumped and rolled onto the rug. Felix grabbed him to stop him from falling off the other side.

The rug lifted into the air and shot forward.

Felix glanced at Arisa’s hand and realized that the skin under her counterbalance bracelet was badly burned. “Arisa, your wrist!”

Mason leaned forward. His eyes widened. “Here, let me heal—”

“It’s fine.” Arisa’s jaw clenched. “Let’s get out of here, first.”

A crash came from behind them. Felix glanced back and groaned. “He’s chasing us!”

“What?” Arisa yelped. “How fast?”

“Pretty fast! He’s flying with his air magic!” Felix turned his attention forward. “Turn left up ahead. That should take us outside.”

The rug swerved. They rounded the corner with alarming speed.

“Windows!” Mason warned.

Arisa veered toward the wall, bringing them toward a shelf. “Grab something off the top of that to smash the window!”

Felix leaned over and stretched out a hand. He snagged a bronze rabbit statue. His gaze lifted to the approaching window. Closer, closer, closer…

“Now!” Arisa yelled.

Felix threw the statue. The window exploded in a shower of glass, and they burst out of the mansion into the night.