“Do you think the wind will interfere with the candles?” Sebastian asked as he and Hayden were finishing up the circle for their ritual.

“No, they’ve been lit by magic after all. This wind isn’t completely natural though.”

“The leviathan?”

Hayden shook her head. “No. it only affects the water.”

“Then who…”

“My best guess would be the magic of the land itself. It wants the leviathan out of here as much as we do.”

“Will that help us?”

“I don’t know.” Hayden looked down from the sky, over to where Persephone was standing and talking with Edmund and Obsidian.

Seb looked at them as well, then glanced at his mother. The sword that she’d brought along was half her height. He was impressed that she could actually carry the thing, but still nervous about having her here to fight. Honestly, he was anxious about having anyone fighting. While the people gathered had varying skill levels in fighting, they were still meant to be facing a creature that could wipe out entire villages.

“We really should get started before this storm gets any worse.” Hayden said, derailing Sebastian’s spiralling train of thought.

He nodded in agreement then followed her lead to sit in the middle of their circle.

“Cross your legs. Now rest your hands on your knees, palm upwards. You remember the chant?”

Seb nodded again.

“Okay. Close your eyes.”

Both of them closed their eyes, took a deep breath, and began to slowly say the words that they’d memorised. The old language that they used sounded like absolute gibberish at first. But the tone and intent behind the words made them feel different. More powerful.

As they repeated the chant, the sound of their surroundings began to fade away. All that they could hear were their own voices speaking in unison. Then – like a blade piercing through taught fabric – Sebastian heard a scream.

He was so startled that he stopped chanting and opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was Hayden was no longer across from him. The second thing he realised was that he couldn’t see anyone else around and everything was brighter. The colours of the grass and dirt and plants all around him seemed more vibrant – except for the water of the river.

The river looked somehow sick. It was murky and– shit, he could smell it from here. Seb had to cover his mouth and nose to keep himself from barfing.

Before he could wonder more about what the fuck was going on, he heard that scream again. He realised now that it was Hayden, and looking over the other side of the hill, directly behind him, he saw her being dragged by a group of angry… ghosts?

They didn’t look like Lydia of course but they were human shaped and partially translucent. Whatever they were, they weren’t friendly. Sebastian jumped to his feet and started after them.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

One of the things looked up and frowned. “The river is in agony. The magic is being drained.”

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“Probably because of the leviathan, but we’re trying to stop that!”

Another thing paused and titled its head curiously. “Help? Friend?”

A third figure growled. “No. Wizard is draining us.”

“I promise you, she isn’t. Or she didn’t mean to. We just want to get rid of the leviathan.”

The second thing nodded its head and turned to its companions. “Friend! Will help us. Want help.”

The different things began arguing amongst themselves over whether Seb was a liar or a friend. They had at least stopped pulling Hayden away now, but she was looking scared and pale, still held away from Sebastian. Every second that ticked by became more and more anxiety inducing.

Finally, the group seemed to come to a conclusion. The one who had been most adamant in defending Sebastian as a friend helped Hayden to her feet and walked her back to Seb.

It looked him in the eyes pleadingly and said. “The river is dying. Help our sisters.”

Sebastian nodded. “We will. I promise.”

Hayden was looking between them in confusion, but before Seb could ask why, she asked. “Can you understand them?”

“Huh? Um, yeah, they’re speaking English the same as us.”

“No they aren’t. Whatever they’re speaking is a language older than I’ve ever heard. And you’re speaking it fluently when you reply to them. You’re just hearing english?”

Sebastian blinked in confusion. “Y-yeah. It’s not exactly full, complex sentences, but it’s english. They’re worried about the river – their magic is being drained, and they thought you were the source.”

“Well, okay, holy shit, I hope you told them I was not.”

“I did. They want our help. We need to finish getting the leviathan out.”

“Yes, yes. Except now that we’ve been pulled into the fucking spirit plane, I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean we’re on a plane?”

“It’s kind of like when you go inside the artefact. Except our souls are here, not just our conscious minds.”

Seb took that in for a moment and blanched. “So, our bodies are what right now? I know that when my consciousness is in the artefact it’s like being asleep. If our souls are here then…”

“Then it would look like we’re dead.” Hayden admitted quietly. “And I don’t know what to do.”

A tense silence fell between them, broken only a few moments later by the being from before asking. “Problem?”

Sebastian still had no idea who or what these things were, but he decided that he needed to be honest with them if they were going to get anything done.

“We, um, we’re not sure what to do. We’re not on the right plane anymore.”

The being frowned. “Sorry. Our fault.”

“You didn’t know we were friends. But um, can you put us back?”

The being nodded, but then another one from the group at the bottom of the hill yelled. “Help first.”

The being that was beside the yeller smacked it upside the head. “Trying. Idiot.”

A sound from the river pulled everyone’s attention in that direction. And the sudden colourlessness of the sky drew their eyes upwards.

The beings began to speak over one another, saying things like; “Worse! Worse!” And “Need to hurry!”

Sebastian looked urgently to the being closest to them. “We don’t know what to do here. You need to send us back.”

The being nodded and called for the others to assist them. They all went back to the circle and Sebastian and Hayden sat back in the positions they’d been in before. The beings stood outside of the circle, holding hands like a bunch of kids getting ready to play ring around the rosie.

Before any of them could do anything though, Seb felt a strange pain in his chest. “Gah!”

“Sebastian?”

“Friend?”

Sebastian’s vision flickered. It was like he was seeing through someone else’s eyes, or trying to, but he couldn’t focus. There was something in front of him that he was facing down. A creature – a monster – but then he blinked and he was still with Hayden and the strangers in the spiritual plane.

“Something– something’s happening.” Sebastian said before the pain pierced him again. “Fuck.”

The pain began to roll through him like an electric current running from his chest all through his veins. He wasn’t sure of his surroundings anymore – all he could think was ‘pain, pain, pain’. But then he felt a warm and on his shoulder.

“Friend.”

He felt more hands on him. The pain was still excruciating, but Sebastian could think clearer now. There was something he needed to do. It was an instinctual feeling to reach out for – for the thing. The source of the pain. He didn’t understand why but he had to. He needed to reach – just a bit further…