"Alright," Stevey slapped Henry on the back, "Let's kill a Ghost Story."

With that, Stevey stepped into the massive church. Henry and Wendy followed behind him, passing through the open wooden doors. As soon as his foot pressed down on the inside of the building, a feeling in the air changed. It suddenly felt colder and more ominous.

The inside of the church was spectacular. Rows and rows of carved wood chairs and benches filled a massive hall. The stained glass windows worked into the walls casted colorful shadows across the room. Each window depicted a deed of some legendary saint. Henry only knew a few of them.

The ceiling was held up by carved white arcs lined with gold paint. Marble statues of grandiose men and women lined the walls of the church. All of these together were spectacular, but they were not the most impressive thing about the church. Not even close. The altar, which filled the entire back wall of the church, took that prize.

It seemed to be made from solid gold. Vines and flowers made of gold climbed pillars, which were also made of silver. A wooden cross with a statue of Jesus nailed to it hung high above. The cross had to be close to fifteen feet tall.

Henry could tell from the mess of halls and doors that lead off the main chamber that this massive room was only the beginning of the church. The whole place was like a maze. He finally got why it took multiple people to kill the Knight.

"Oh shit," Henry murmured, "How are we going to find one object in all of this?"

Wendy laughed.

"Now he gets it."

"We divide and conquer," Stevey said, "Wendy you've got the ground floor. I'll take the mausoleum. That's where the anchor usually appears, and also where the Knight most often attacks. Henry, you take the second floor. There's a staircase to your right. Let's be quick; the Knight is going to be here anytime, and he isn't going to be a happy bastard."

Then, just like that, they split. Wendy made her way down one of the halls on the first floor. Stevey made his way to a set of stairs hidden behind a large metal gate. He pried off the chain, locking the gate with his harpoon, then vanished into the dark. That left only Henry; he made his way to the stairs, heading up to the second floor.

The second floor was less extravagant than the main hall, but that was what Henry expected. It seemed to go on forever. Room after room splintered off from the hall. Most of them were empty or filled with random crap. No matter how many Henry looked through, he couldn't spot anything that could've been the anchor. He hoped he hadn't missed it. The truth was, he still wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for.

After checking a room that was filled with broken musical instruments, Henry made his way back to the hall. That was when the smell of smoke filled his nostrils first. At first, he thought he was imagining it, but soon the smell was too strong to ignore. It could have been a coincidence. Maybe there was a fire burning in one of the rooms, but he didn't think so. When the sound of rattling chains confirmed his worst fear, a chill ran up his spine. Just his luck, the Knight had come for him.

Henry spun around, trying to find the source of the rattling and smoke. Only he couldn't. The hall behind him was empty, as was the hall in front of him. He wasn't sure which way to run. The sound could have been coming from anywhere or everywhere. Just as he was about to pick a random direction to run, a figure covered in armor stepped out from a solid wall as if it were a door.

The knight was tall, taller than a man should be. It had to be around eight feet tall. It was covered head to toe in silver-iron armor. In several places, the armor appeared to be scorched, likely from the Knight's burning. Dark black smoke leaked from the armor in numerous places, as if a fire still burned inside that suit.

Long chains dangled around the knight's body. Their ends seemed to glow faintly. In its right hand, it held a steel longsword. The blade was glowing bright red, like it had just been pulled from a forge. Steam billowed from the sword, twirling together with the black smoke leaking from the Knight's hands.

Through the black smoke clouding the narrow eye slit of its helmet, Henry could see two faint balls of orange light. At first glance, he thought they were its eyes. Then those lights flickered like a candle, and Henry realized the truth. They were two smoldering embers jammed where the eyes should've been. It was a haunting sight.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The knight took a step closer to him, and then another. The chains dangling from its body rattled, and its metal armor creaked with every step. The hall behind the knight was filled with pitch-black smoke. It was the same smoke that billowed from every crack and crevice of its warped armor.

Henry suddenly remembered what Stevey had told him. He had to run and hope that one of the others found the anchor in time. It was the only way he'd have a chance at surviving this. He turned and ran down the hall as fast as he could. Behind him, he could hear the jingling chains and echoing footsteps grow faster. It was chasing him.

The Knight was fast, which was unfortunate for Henry. He had hoped that maybe all that armor would slow it down. In fact, the opposite was true. It seemed faster than any man should have been. It was not long before the thing caught up to Henry. Henry could feel the heat pouring off its body. He spun, throwing his shield up just in time to catch the knight's sword.

The hulking monster's blade smashed into the round wooden shield. The shield stopped the attack, but the force of it was enough to send Henry to the floor. He could see black marks along his wooden shield where the sword had burned through. The thing must have been blisteringly hot to cut through the wood so quickly. The Knight lifted the sword above his head again. Henry saw this attack coming. He threw himself back just as the sword came whistling by where his head had been only moments ago.

There was no way he was going to last long enough for one of the others to find the anchor. The knight was relentless. It didn't even seem to be tired after swinging that massive sword around. It was already lifting the sharp, glowing blade up above its head for another attack. Henry turned, looking for a way to escape. Next to him, an open door led to a room. If he went in there, he would be trapped with no escape, but Henry didn't have another choice.

Henry scrambled into the room narrowly, avoiding the Knight's next sword stroke. He heard the blade smash into the wood where he had been only moments before. The Knight's armor creaked and strained as it recovered from its whiffed attack. He could see it pull its sword free from the cracked floor.

The room Henry had scrambled into was just like the others. It was largely unadorned. A few pieces of furniture were scattered around the room. All of them were covered in white sheets. Henry barely noticed that, though. There was one thing in the room he was focused on.

It was an ancient-looking wooden box that immediately caught his attention. It sat in the middle of the room by itself. It was ornately carved with a field of flowers. Men on horseback chased a carved fox across the field. He could hear a thumping sound echoing loudly from its center. It sounded like a heartbeat. Thump, Thump. Thump, Thump. Thump Thump. As he stared, black smoke began to twirl playfully from the ornate chest as if it were smoldering after being removed from a fire. Henry couldn't take his eyes off the simple chest. It was so alluring. This had to be the anchor. Stevey had told him he'd know it when he saw it.

Henry stood from the floor with a groan and tried to move towards the Anchor, but felt the Knight's metal gauntlet wrap tightly around his leg. It was scolding hot, as if it had just been pulled from a fire. Henry let out a howl of pain as the molten metal hand burned his skin. The Knight pulled hard, and Henry was left sprawled on the floor again. He tried to kick the iron hand off his leg, but it was no use. The Knight's grip was inhumanly strong. It started to drag Henry backwards away from the anchor.

He was going to die again, just when he was so close to winning. No! He wouldn't go down like that, not without fighting. He still had one Hail Mary left. He was going to kill this Ghost Story or die trying.

With his right hand, Henry lifted his harpoon back. He took a quick moment to adjust his aim and then threw the harpoon. It flew through the air like an arrow and then passed right through the ornate box as if it wasn't there. For a few moments, Henry thought he had missed the anchor or maybe miscalculated how to destroy it. His worries were alleviated when the entire chest burst into a cloud of black smoke.

Henry felt the grip of the Knight loosen, then release entirely. The knight staggered back into the hall. The sound of rattling chains was growing louder and louder. As Henry watched, the Knight began to shake and shutter. Its head began to roll around, and its arms jerked back and forth. It looked like it was agony.

'Good' Henry thought.

The Knight stumbled back again, then fell to a knee. Its molten red sword fell to the floor with a clunk and then vanished into a puff of smoke. A black char mark was left in the wood where it had fallen. The sound of shaking chains grew louder and louder. That was strange because the Knight was no longer moving. The sound was coming from nowhere.

With a grading sound of metal tearing, the knight began to implode. Its metal armor sucked in on itself. First, its arms bent backwards, then vanished into the suit, followed by his legs and head. Soon, there was nothing left but the chest plate. It bowed inward too, until it was nothing but a crumpled piece of torn metal. It looked like aluminum foil smashed into a ball. The sound of chains reached a fever pitch. It was almost deafening in the hall. Finally, that last twisted piece of metal turned into nothing more than a puff of smoke. The sound of chains disappeared with it. The Knight was dead. Henry had killed a Ghost Story.