Eldritch Exorcist

We went to Daniel, who was sitting with Emma near the tents, as night was slowly falling.

"Did the rats find my brother?" he asked the moment we approached.

"No, but they did find Ester's brother."

"What?" Daniel asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Sit down, please," I said, pointing at a chair.

We all sat down as I started explaining the plan.

"The ghost dragged your brother's soul to its nest inside the Ouija board. Now I can go and get it back, but not while the ghost is guarding it. So basically, we need to lure the creature out."

So far, they were all listening intently, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that Ophelia winced slightly at what I was about to ask.

"The problem is, the ghost won't let go of your brother that easily. We need something to get its attention, something to have the ghost leave its lair, something–"

"You need bait," Daniel finished.

"Yes, we need bait, and not just any bait. We need Liam's sibling."

"Why?" Emma asked, concerned.

"It's part of the ghost's obsession. She won't come out to attack you or Ophelia, not while she has Liam."

Daniel went a bit pale as he looked at the ground. "Wait, if it is inside the board somehow, then can't you just smash it?" he asked, looking at me.

I was about to give another evasive reply, but I saw some interest appear on Ophelia's face.

"There are many reasons why not, but mainly it's an artifact strong enough to hold a dimension inside. Not something you can just smash with a hammer. Even if I could find a weak point and crack it open, there is no way of telling what will happen when the space inside loses its support. To control a separate dimension unfurling, I can't imagine how powerful a space mage I would have to be."

Well, that and the fact that I had an excellent use for a spirit cage. My initial plan was to buy soul crystals after I opened the pouch, but the spirit cage was even better.

Daniel looked ahead. His jaw muscles flexed. I was surprised at how long it took for him to make the decision. I thought their family bonds were stronger than that.

"You won't have to die, Daniel," Ophelia said suddenly.

He turned to her. "Oh. I thought it was soul for soul?"

"What?" I asked. "No, why would you think that?"

"Well, the way you put it, with the ghost dragging souls out and the whole thing, you know…"

I looked at them, confused. "No. I'll put a seal around you."

"Okay. Then let's do it," he answered quickly.

"That's what I'm talking about." I smiled.

I looked toward the sky. We had maybe two hours of daylight.

"Okay, you prepare yourself, call your parents, say your goodbyes," I said, and he opened his mouth. "You shouldn't be hurt, but let me be honest with you. An exorcism of a ghost this strong is dangerous. Seals can be broken, spells can fail. You should approach an exorcism with the same intensity as you would a battle. And unfinished business is how you get distracted."

Daniel nodded and went for his phone.

I turned to Emma. "You won't be needed during the fight. I want you to take the pontoon out and wait for a phone call, but make sure you are at least far enough that you don't see the house."

Emma nodded.

Now for the preparations.

"What should I do?" Ophelia asked.

"You'll sit with Daniel in the seal. We'll move the salt circle from around the tents to around you and him. But we can't let the spirit sense it, so it will be inactive when Daniel acts as bait. Once I give you the signal, you will snap the last piece of the barrier in place, and it should activate. I will raise another barrier around the artifact and fight the ghost."

Ophelia didn't hesitate as she answered, "Got it."

"But there is another thing I want you to do," I said as I passed her a small baton. "Daniel needs to look sincere, so we can't tie him up. And the ghost seems to be proficient with mind magic, so there is a good chance it will try to lure you two out. So if he tries to run out, I need you to keep him inside the seal. Even if it means whacking him over the head."

She took the small wooden baton and looked it over. After taking a deep breath followed by a slow exhale, she looked back up at me. "Okay."

"Good. Don't hesitate. Even if you crack his skull, I have potions. Worst-case scenario, he'll have a small dent in the skull, nothing to worry about."

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Ophelia went pale.

"Just a joke," I said and hit her on the shoulder. "You'll do fine. You'll know what to do."

"Thanks… It would be nice if it weren't for the joke," she grumbled.

"Ahhh, you will spend years doing this job. You need to learn to enjoy it," I said and went to prepare myself.

I secured the dagger to my belt and allowed the staff to unravel into my hand. Now, what spells to put on? Purely physical attacks were not the best. I wasn't sure what type of spirit it was, but ghosts, much like humans, would change at the third circle. For spirits, this usually meant the ability to become incorporeal and completely negate physical attacks.

I needed death and mental spells.

I wove Decay and Force at the first circle and Flames of Purgatory at the second.

Now for the defense. That was where it got tricky. Physical attacks could be easily stopped with a shield. The problem with mental ones was that they didn't rely on straight impact.

So I used Armour on the first circle and Force Control on the second to fling myself out of the way if needed. Any mental trick I should be able to just resist.

Now, as the last step, I drew a few runes on the side of the small skull and placed the bottle with the upgraded holy water inside it, where the brain previously sat. After that, I put it with the rest of the skeleton, although a bit forward, so that the skull would be outside the circle.

With that, my preparations were done. I then took rune paint and started writing a seal around the cage as Ophelia dismantled the metal bars around the tents.

After an hour and a half, the preparations were complete.

Ophelia was sitting with Daniel, who was trying to calm himself down with deep breaths. Ophelia also looked nervous, but that was all. She'd been through worse.

"Okay. All's complete. Now for the main guest," I said, placing the cage inside the Ouija box and slotting the mirror back in its place.

"I want you two to go through the ritual. Once you get to the naming part, say Daniel's name. Then you lift the box so that you and the skeleton are reflected in the mirror. Once Ester shows, I want you, Ophelia, to complete the salt ring, and I will come and activate the spell on the box." I explained, pointing at all the components in turn. "Now I need you to pay attention. First, once you complete the naming part, make sure the Ouija board stands a bit away from the barrier so that you have time to activate it."

"But previously, when we did that, nothing showed itself aside from some wind," said Daniel.

"Previously, it probably just affected the environment and looked at you from the nest, only getting out once you were asleep. It can most likely dissipate and change form, but you should at least see some mist. If it's invisible, I should still be able to sense it, so I will warn you."

I locked eyes with Daniel as he looked to the side to avoid my gaze. "And no matter what you see or hear, even if it's your brother begging. You stay in the circle," I said, pointing at the metal. "Got it?"

I got a nod in return.

"One more thing," I turned to my apprentice. "I will cast the spell over the salt, but it won't be complete until the circle is whole, so it will bleed mana like a leaky bowl. I need you to make sure it has mana to bleed into the environment, or the spell will dissipate and the seal around you won't do shit." I handed Ophelia three mana crystals. "Observe them. Once you see one is losing its shine, replace it."

"Understood."

"Good. So now, good luck," I said, winking at the two people sitting over human bones in a circle of salt. With the setting sun, it looked like a scene from an occult horror, quite captivating in my opinion.

I kept some distance so that the ghost wouldn't easily sense my aura.

I observed as Ophelia and Daniel lit up candles and started to spell Ester's name with the planchette. I could see Daniel's hands start shaking more and more, to the point that they almost misspelled the name.

I could see that Daniel was saying something, probably talking about his relationship with Liam.

Finally, after going through the ritual, Ophelia placed the box on a prepared chair.

Daniel was already sitting inside the seal.

They both froze for a second, waiting for a knock.

But it didn't come.

That wasn't a surprise. The ghost was busy, so it wouldn't knock for them. But that didn't matter.

Ophelia spelled "Liam's brother. Daniel." on the planchette and then went to join him in the circle.

I also reflexively held my breath. I was about to fight a third-circle spirit. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Heart speeding up, breath quickening, what great sensations. My mouth split into a wide smile.

One second. Nothing.

Five seconds. Nothing.

We waited around for a minute.

I was slowly wondering if I would need to try something else. All we needed was for the ghost to glance at the ritual site. But if it didn't even do that much—

My doubts were stopped immediately.

First, there was a knock. But it wasn't the gentle knocking described by Daniel. No, all of the birds flew away as if on cue as something slammed its fist into the mirror.

I looked down and saw bugs and other critters start scurrying away from the place of the ritual.

It was working. I finally sensed the aura.

Something was approaching.

The air felt like grief, loneliness, and anger.

Any colour that was still present was drained from Daniel's face, as he became as white as a sheet of paper. Ophelia was holding up well, but even she was gritting her teeth.

If I had to judge, the spirit was in the middle of the third circle.

And this time around, the ghost wasn't shy. It came out in all its glory.

First, two clawed hands emerged from the mirror, as if a person was slowly breaking through the surface of the water. They were vaguely human but longer and bony. The clicking of the joints accompanied each movement.

The claws grabbed the sides of the box, and the thing dragged the rest of its body out. First came a head with a pale, elongated skull covered with thin, slick skin. Stringy, black hair drooped in patches from it, as if clumps had been pulled out.

Then the face showed. Two hollow eyes, no nose, and a wide mouth much larger than that of a human, frozen in a silent scream.

The thing finally dragged out the rest of its body. It was tall, taller than me, with a bony, borderline-thin physique where each bone and rib could be seen. She was hunched over to the point that her neck was parallel to the ground.

I saw Daniel crawl back in horror, but thankfully, Ophelia didn't lose her composure and stopped him before he left the circle.

The ghost finally stood outside the Ouija board.

The air was frozen in an unnatural sensation of fear, as the smell of ozone wafted about.

Ophelia and Daniel were huddled together inside the seal.

I slowly approached the creature from behind.

It was time for a fight.