Kaidan darted forward, ripping his sword from its sheath and yelling at it to ignite. The spell did as instructed, and flame roared down the blade. He skidded to a halt beside Zerua and pressed a hand to her chest, forcing her behind him. The spirits released their own war cries, chilling screeches that reminded him of the screes of a dying animal. He had one moment to wonder why they were audible before they slammed into him.

Biting cold enveloped him, and the flames on his sword flickered. The spirits veered away from the sword, screaming and roaring their fury. Zerua had tugged spell stones from her pouches by now, and she grabbed Kaidan's arm with a scream when one of the spirits dove at her, its icy fingers grasping at the stones. Kaidan batted the creature away with his sword, his stomach clenching and his lungs seizing. The room's temperature had dropped nearly sixty degrees, and the two of them shivered in the thin clothes they wore, their breath pluming in the air.

The apparitions launched another attack, latching their hands around Kaidan's arms and plunging the sword into a bitter chill. The flames flickered again and went out.

The creatures roared in triumph, their laughter echoing around the temple. The largest of the four grabbed him around the throat while another pressed itself against his back, invading his body with the cold. Kaidan threw his head back and screamed, his nerve endings blazing with ice-cold fire as the apparitions sent their cold through his body.

Zerua screamed too. "Kaidan! Kaidan, I need you to fight them. I've got a plan."

Kaidan's neck popped as he fought the hands holding him to look at her. She brandished her spell-stones, and he saw the runes etched into them. Fire stones. His lungs were seizing now, and drawing in any air was impossible. He choked, his throat growing raw and dry.

Over the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, he heard Zerua chanting, and then there was a loud crack, and the world exploded with light and warmth. The blast from the stones knocked the creature on his back off temporarily, and Kaidan lifted his now mobile arms, latching onto the hands around his throat and tearing them away as the spirit wailed its displeasure.

Zerua lunged for the door, grabbing his hand and towing him along behind her. He managed to get his feet under him just in time to run alongside her. They bolted through the door into the open. Kaidan paused for a moment to slam the door behind him, praying that if the creatures were solid enough to harm them, they wouldn't be able to go through doors. Then again, who knew?

Then they were off again, running deeper into the city, fire coursing through their blood and terror chasing on their heels. As they twisted and wound through the streets, neither had time to pay attention to what was around them. They barreled onward with no grace and only desperation keeping them on their feet.

Kaidan stumbled over a broken stone and lost his footing, landing on his hands and knees. His wife knelt beside him, helping him up and glancing behind. A gasp from her told him they were still being pursued. He scrambled to regain his balance, and they bolted down another street.

The houses had become less numerous, and Kaidan searched for any place they could safely hide. Nothing presented itself. The few houses were now mingling with trees, and they burst out into an open field surrounded by a waist-high wall of stones and shale. Nearby, the wall of dirt they'd descended earlier loomed, but this section had no upward path out.

Kaidan gasped for breath and skidded to halt by the wall. "Here. It's our only chance, Zer. We have to—" He gulped the humid air into his lungs. "Hide. Now."

She nodded, and they sprinted down the wall, finding a place where trees provided some cover. Then they threw themselves down in the ditch between the field and the wall, drawing in as much air as they dared. Zerua clapped her hands over her mouth to hide the noise of her breathing, which was all to obvious in the stillness surrounding them. Kaidan did the same, his heart pounding against his ribcage like a carpenter's hammer against wood. He struggled to regulate his heartbeat and his breathing. Closing his eyes, he prayed to Albrith that they wouldn't be discovered.

They listened for the tell-tale signs of pursuit, but nothing made a sound. Kaidan raised his head to look over the lip of the ditch. As far as the eye could see, the field stretched. No ghosts were in sight, but his breath hitched in his throat when he saw the thousands of tombstones standing in the earth like proud sentries.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"W-what is it?" Zerua's entire form trembled against his, and when he eased himself back down and looked at her, she had tears in her large, doe-like eyes.

"I didn't see the things pursuing us." He bit his lip, unsure if he should tell her what he'd discovered about their hiding place.

"But?" Her voice was breathless as she pressed closer to him, tears running in rivulets down the planes of her face. "There's a but, isn't there?"

He nodded, swallowing hard. "But we've hidden in a massive graveyard."

Zerua tipped her head back, staring at the green-tinted sky overhead, and a silent sob wracked her frame. "What were we thinking? W-we never should've come. No wonder Tebhor—"

Something crunched over the grass nearby, and Kaidan pressed his hand over her mouth, shaking his head. They lay pressed up against each other, waiting to see what their fate would be.

The coldness crept over their hiding place, and Zerua's lips trembled against his palm. Her tears dripped onto his hands, and she released a muted whimper. He pressed a kiss to her temple, thinking that if he had to die today, at least she wouldn't be left alone without him. She'd always said she couldn't bear it if he died first.

The first apparition appeared above them, towering over them and blotting out the strange emerald sky. A snarl twisted his features, and he bent down to wrap his bony fingers around Kaidan's neck once more.

Before he could, the breeze picked up, and this time, it carried with it the rolling of thunder. Energy crackled in the air, dancing over Kaidan's skin and making the hair on his neck rise. He sucked in a breath, every nerve electrified by whatever was coming.

The apparition seemed to recognize the energy. It snatched its hands back from Kaidan as though it had been burned, muttering and moaning. Then it turned and dropped to its knees, bowing its head as if in reverence of something. Kaidan rolled onto his stomach and eased himself to his knees, wondering what the creature could be looking at.

A woman stood in the distance, the white light emanating from her chasing away the odd green glow that permeated the entire city. Her pure white robes flapped around her ankles and fluttered in the wind she seemed to be the origin of. The force of it nearly toppled him as he knelt there, and the smaller trees nearby swayed. She stared at him, her eyes boring into his soul. Transfixed, he stared back. Who is she? Her gaze held an agelessness that no ordinary person could attain in a lifetime, and all four of their pursuers bowed to her, abandoning their chase.

Kaidan got to his feet in a daze and offered Zerua a hand up.

She leaned on him, staring at the newest being as well. "K-kaidan—" Her fingers trembled on his arm. "We should run now while they're not attacking."

He bit his lip and nodded. The two of them slunk to the edge of the trees, hoping to avoid the notice of the four warrior spirits bowing to the woman in the center of the field. When it became clear the warriors wouldn't move, the two bolted for the woods.

They went nowhere. One moment, they were running, and the next, they were in the ditch where they'd started. Now, the apparitions did turn to stare at them. They didn't move, but they observed the two with silent animosity. Kaidan shivered as a chill skittered down his spine. Why do they want us dead so badly? And why is she holding them off? He tried to take a step toward the forest again but found his feet couldn't move. "W-what—"

Zerua's fingers laced through his, and she squeezed his hand in a death-grip. "Kaidan, I can't move my legs."

"Me neither."

They turned their attention back to the four glowing apparitions and the woman in white. As they watched, the creatures disappeared one-by-one until only the woman in white was left. She meandered across the field, trailing long, glowing fingers over the headstones of grave after grave.

Kaidan watched her approach, sweat trickling down his back. The usual humidity and silence returned with the other four gone, but the energy still crackled in the air. Its intensity grew as the woman drew nearer.

She drew to a stop in front of them.

Kaidan shaded his eyes from the light radiating off her, wincing. Beside him, Zerua gasped and buried her face in his shoulder. Then the light dimmed, and he was able to lower his hand away from his eyes to look at the woman who had rid them of their attackers.

His breath hitched, and he wiped a clammy palm on his pants. The woman before him was a goddess. Her high-boned cheeks blushed with barest hint of pink beneath the glow that lit her from the inside out, and her dewy skin remained an alabaster white as though the sun had never touched it. Her hazel eyes held a strange emotion, one that he couldn't place. Her full, petal-pink lips curved up into a smile.

Kaidan could understand that smile. It held no warmth, no crinkling of the skin around her eyes, and no sparkle in her gaze. It was cold and dead. It promised no refuge, but it also promised no retribution. It was simply devoid of feeling. He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Who are you?"

She turned away from him with a melodious laugh that tinkled on the breeze radiating from her person. "Me? I am Bane of Ashkarith. But you may know me better as Banach of Argos."