The sun was setting when Rian, Halbert, and Eiva reached a clearing. Thorned vines surrounded the edges of the clearing. At least the vines were low enough to step over without being poked by them. The ground of the clearing was devoid of life, the moon shining brightly on the bare ground. Not even grass grew there. Halbert stood at the center of the clearing. Rian hesitated for only a moment before joining him there. Eiva stayed at the edge of the clearing.

“You may need the help of the souls of the dead to stop Norris and Arwel,” Halbert said. “And you will have to be willing to sacrifice all that you must.”

Rian took a breath, trying to mentally prepare himself for this. That breath was all the time it took for Norris and Arwel to come running into the clearing. Eiva drew her sword, but Norris struck her with his arm, throwing her against the tree behind her. Halbert brought forth a spectral sword just in time to block Arwel’s.

Norris rushed at Rian, moving so fast he was almost a blur. His blade raked across Rian’s side. A gasp slipped out, heat flaring along Rian’s left side. He fell to his knees, pressing his left hand over the wound. Red seeped out around his hand and between the bones. Halbert pulled Rian to his feet, pulling him back just as deep cracks spread through the ground under him.

The cracks in the ground made a circle at the center of the clearing, separating Rian, Halbert, and Eiva from Norris and Arwel. Arwel had set the objects on the ground in a circle and was muttering something. Rian couldn’t make out the words, but it wasn’t any language he knew. The ground sank in at the center of the clearing, leaving a dark hole. Norris and Arwel jumped into the hole.

“The way is open,” Halbert said.

“Then we’re too late?” Eiva asked.

“Not yet,” Halbert said. “Rian and I will go after them.”

“I’m going with you,” Eiva said.

Halbert shook his head. “The Bone Garden is no place for the living.”

The cracks in the ground weren’t so far they wouldn’t be able to jump across, but Rian was barely staying on his feet. Halbert was holding onto him, keeping him upright.

Eiva’s eyes widened. “You’re bleeding.”

“The wound is deep,” Halbert said. “We don’t have long to do this. Wait out here, Eiva. Stay among the trees, out of sight of anything that might come out of there.”

Halbert let go of Rian, ran at the crack in the ground, and jumped across. Rian tried to get a hold of his senses, but everything just spun more. He ran, hoping the crack wasn’t further than it looked. He jumped, the movement pulling on the gushing wound in his side. He landed on his hands and knees on the other side. Rian stumbled to his feet, following Halbert to the hole in the ground. The objects had vanished. Had they fallen into the hole?

Halbert grabbed Rian’s arm, then jumped, pulling them both down into the darkness. Rian didn’t feel himself land, he was just suddenly standing in a vast, dark cave. The smell of rot and death hung thick in the air. There were piles of bones everywhere. All the bones looked ancient, but none were the least bit damaged. Rian and Halbert moved among the piles quietly.

Rian heard voices up ahead. He barely stayed on his feet, blood running freely from his side. Halbert stopped so suddenly Rian almost walked into him. Over the pile next to them, Rian could barely see Arwel and Norris at what appeared to be the center of the cave. A huge skull loomed over the two of them, with long, curving horns similar to those of a deer. The empty eye sockets were deep, dark holes.

“Trivius,” Halbert whispered at the same time as the voice in Rian’s head, but there was fear in Halbert’s voice and reverence in the other.

“The time has come,” Norris said, staring up at the huge skull. The hood of his cloak had fallen back.

“How do we wake him?” Arwel asked.

Norris turned to face Arwel, summoning his spectral sword. Arwel summoned his before Norris could strike, disarming Norris, and running him through.

“I thought that might be what you were planning,” Arwel said. “Though I had hoped I was wrong.”

Norris gasped, struggling against the blade through his middle. Arwel pulled the sword out. Norris stumbled back. Arwel struck again, cutting off Norris’s head. Dark blood seeped across the stones of the cave floor. A deep red light flared to life in the sockets of the giant skull. A strange feeling swept through the cave, as though the entire place had just sighed.

Arwel closed his eyes. The red in the eyes of Trivius’s skull rushed into Arwel. The piles of bones throughout the cave stirred, skeletal knights wearing rusted armor pulling themselves free. The pile of bones in front of Rian and Halbert stirred as well. Halbert pulled Rian toward a slanted bit of rock behind them that was low to the ground. The two of them barely fit under it.

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Through the crack, Rian saw Trivius’s army leaving, with Arwel at the front. Did Trivius have control of Arwel? Had this always been the plan? No, it couldn’t have been. Norris had tried to sacrifice Arwel instead, which meant Trivius would have been in Norris. At last the sounds of the piles of bones moving ceased.

“Neither Arwel nor Norris could truly free Trivius,” the voice said in Rian’s mind with a sigh. Had he wanted Trivius freed?

Halbert helped Rian out from under the rock. Rian could barely move, but they couldn’t stay there. Trivius and his army were loose in Virida. The cave was much emptier than before. Most of the bone piles were gone, though the massive skull remained.

“Trivius has control of Arwel,” Halbert said.

“Is it too late to stop him?” Rian asked.

Halbert seemed to be staring at the giant skull. “No. We have to get Arwel back here and trap Trivius’s soul.” He looked at Rian. “Let’s get back to Eiva, make sure she didn’t get caught in the path of Trivius and his army.”

Rian took a step and almost fell over. His side was still bleeding. He steadied himself against the wall of the cave, then started walking again. He and Halbert made their way back among the now smaller piles of bones until they came to a dark hole in the ground. The two jumped down, landing back in the clearing, next to the hole that led into the Bone Garden. Eiva ran out of the forest, jumping across the crack in the ground.

“What happened?” Eiva asked. “An army of dead knights just appeared in the clearing, with Arwel leading them.”

“Trivius is in Arwel,” Halbert said. “Norris is dead. I suspect Norris always planned to sacrifice Arwel to free Trivius, but I don’t know if Norris knew Trivius would have possessed him. He likely planned for Trivius to end the Sancta for him. What direction were they headed in?”

“Back the way we came,” Eiva said. “They could be going anywhere.”

“We should warn Derwen,” Halbert said. “If we can get Arwel back into the Bone Garden, we can seal Trivius again.”

“To do that, we have to know where he is,” Eiva said.

Halbert nodded. He looked at Rian. “Can you walk?”

Rian wasn’t sure he could, but the alternative was to stay there and die. “I’ll make it.”

The three of them didn’t come across Trivius and his army on the way back through the forest. Rian barely stayed on his feet. Halbert kept him from falling over several times. They reached Derwen at night. It was quiet, as though everything was normal. Rian was ready to collapse and not get back up.

While Eiva went to talk to the king and queen, Halbert and Rian went to the graveyard. Rian felt a little better as soon as he was touching burial ground. Halbert left, returning with bandages. He covered Rian’s wound, but the bandage was soaked through right away. Rian tried not to think of what had happened in the Bone Garden yet, of what it meant, but he couldn’t avoid it forever.

Was Arwel still alive with Trivius inside of him? Rian doubted Norris had planned to be possessed by Trivius, so it wasn’t likely Arwel had known this would happen. Rian’s wound was still deep, but the bleeding had slowed now that he was on burial ground. Halbert sat beside him, pressing his bony hands into the dirt.

“What will Trivius be after?” Rian asked.

“He’ll want Virida back under his control,” Halbert said. “He’ll want them to worship him and not the gods. Derwen may be his first target.”

Rian hesitated. “How can we stop him?” His voice came out quiet.

“We need to get Trivius back into the Bone Garden,” Halbert said. “It will be far from easy, but we have to find a way.”

Rian was losing hope they could stop Trivius, losing hope of getting Arwel back. “And if we can’t?”

Halbert seemed to stare at Rian for a long moment. “We won’t think about that yet.”

Rian heard something in the distance, something that was steadily getting louder. Eiva came running into the graveyard.

“Trivius and his knights are here,” Eiva said. “They’ve already made it through the gate.”

Rian and Halbert got to their feet. Eiva had an extra sword with her and gave it to Rian. Rian knew little about swords, but at least he wouldn’t be hiding behind Halbert and Eiva. The three of them went further into Derwen, where the knights were fighting Trivius and his army. When the Knights of Derwen struck down a skeletal knight, it just got back up.

A sword came at Rian from off to the side. Rian barely managed to block, his sword even heavier than he’d thought it would be. Arwel pressed his spectral sword hard against Rian’s. He stared at Rian without expression, his eyes dull and distant, other than the deep red light burning in his irises. Suddenly his eyes focused, and he frowned hard, but he still kept his sword pressed against Rian’s. The dark red light had gone from his eyes.

“Run.” Arwel’s voice was strained. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m not running,” Rian said. “I’ll find a way to get Trivius out of you.”

Arwel shook his head. “You don’t have to be the one to stop me. You don’t have to be the Speaker of the Dead.”

Two knights wearing the armor of the Sancta grabbed Arwel from behind, pulling him away from Rian. Arwel struggled against them, but more Sancta Knights came. They forced Arwel to the ground, taking his sword, which vanished the moment it was out of his hand. They tied his hands in front of him with rope. Arwel had no expression again, his eyes distant, with that dark red light glowing in them. Trivius had control again.

Frida came to stand beside Rian, decapitating two of Trivius’s knights. “To the castle!” she said.

The Sancta Knights led Arwel toward the castle, with Rian and Frida close behind.