The darkness that had surrounded Eduardo and the creature before him when the lantern broke had not lasted long, due to the single glowing eye, about the size of a baseball, in the center of the beast's head. Eduardo had realized too late that the silhouette he had assumed was a rider on horseback was actually a monster with the body of a horse, and a torso that barely qualified as human. The arm that had taken his lantern had to be about five feet in length, starting at the human torso's shoulder, with the knuckles nearly able to drag on the ground. The head on which the glowing eye rested was nearly three times larger than it should have been, with its jaws able to open unnaturally large; Eduardo was almost certain that it would swallow him rather easily without needing to chew. Perhaps the worst feature of the monster was the reason behind the rotting stench Eduardo had noticed on his way up the hill; it had no skin! He could see the exposed, rotting muscles of the horse/semi-human as it breathed, small amounts of black liquid dripping or squirting out from the strained muscles' seams occasionally.
The beast let out a low guttural growl, the stench of its breath so foul it competed with the rancid muscles. It reared back, its enormous arm raised up, preparing for an attack that Eduardo knew would leave him more than a little dazed. Eduardo took a large step backwards, his neck narrowly missing the lightning fast claw-like hand that dove toward him. A small rock slipped out from under Eduardo's steady foot, sending him tumbling down the small hill. He could feel shards of glass, fragments of his shattered lantern, piercing his hands and knees as he fell.
Eduardo hit the ground on his back, knocking the wind and his senses out of him. His head flew, slamming down onto a fiercely jagged rock. His sight instantly faded to black, colored splotches dancing before his eyes more and more as he slowly regained his vision. Over the loud ringing now running through his ears he could hear the monster coming nearer. Finally his vision cleared enough to make shapes out, and a large black blotch coming down the hill told him he didn't have much time. The glowing red of its eye was clearly visible now in Eduardo's blurry sight. Eduardo sucked in a gasp of air and scrambled to his feet, the shearing pain running through his entire body temporarily forgotten as he took off for the castle. As he ran he could hear the beast gaining on him, each hoof beat of its gallop felt like it was pounding into his brain; its grunts seemed to be blowing directly into his ear. Eduardo finally found his breath, along with his voice, and let out a terrified scream. The pursuing monster joined in Ed's primal shout, letting out a deep ground-shaking roar.
At first Eduardo thought the creature had stopped its pursuit, the primal roar fading fast. He then realized that the ringing in his ears was really just drowning the primal roar out, which was getting increasingly louder. He dropped to the ground, the ringing now completely drumming through his head. Trying once more to move, he simply accomplished rolling over onto his back, giving him nice view of the beautifully clear and starry night sky that, he noticed, was growing ever darker as he quickly slipped from consciousness. Giving in to the beckoning darkness around him, he comforted himself by figuring that if he were going to be eaten alive by some demonic beast, at least he wouldn't be awake for it
Eduardo awoke slowly when he felt something grabbing at him. Groggily, he realized it was a pair of hands. He heard someone speaking, thought he heard his name called, but every sound seemed like it came from a mile-long metallic tunnel. The hands seemed to be trying to lift him, but eventually gave up and settled on grabbing his wrists and dragging him slowly along the soft, grassy earth.
As his awareness grew, he began to wonder how long he had been out, and why that monster hadn't taken the opportunity to eat him. He opened his eyes slowly, and could make out the starry night once again, although amid a series of colors and shapes still dancing around his eyes.
He tilted his head up, hoping to catch a glimpse of his rescuer...or captor; he still wasn't quite sure which. Upside down, he could see the person's feet, and could see they were struggling to continue dragging him any further. His eyes wandered up to meet with a very familiar looking cloth robe. He tried to find his voice, but only a series of murmurs came out. The person stopped, apparently startled at his consciousness, and uttered a single word as she placed her hand on his head.
"Sleep." Was it Kylie's? Sath's? It was too quick to tell, and soon Eduardo found unconsciousness rising up once again to consume him.
*****
Eduardo's eyes slowly opened, only to quickly shut again after being temporarily blinded by the sunlight pouring in from a window on the opposite wall. He recognized the room easily enough, though; he was in the Healers' Room. A shuffling noise a few feet away told him he also wasn't alone. His first attempt at speaking only let out a low moan, but he soon once again found his voice. "Who's there?"
He felt a gentle hand touch his forehead and Kylie's voice. "You're fever's gone back down. About time, too. You've been out most of the day. Do you know who did this to you? You were in really bad condition."
Eduardo put a hand to his head, feeling a series of wet bandages wrapped around his head. Pulling his hand away, he realized they were wrapped around his palms, as well. He no sooner noticed he had bandages all over various parts of his body than his body responded with a brilliant ache of pain, deep and nauseating, running through him. Trying to keep his mind off himself, he switched the topic. "When did you wake up?"
"This afternoon. Sath spent most of the night watching over me, trying to call me back to myself. And she watched over you, too." Eduardo felt a pang of guilt among all the pangs of pain. Leave it up to the one person you practically tell you hate to be the one to look over you when you're in trouble. For some reason, his realization made him think of Carlos, and a similar situation from long ago. He suddenly felt a bit homesick, a feeling he hadn't experienced in quite a while, considering there wasn't much left of his home that he missed. The last time he'd wished to see his brother was when he and Kylie had finally become a couple. Carlos would never have seen him so happy, and even if they now did return home, Eduardo doubted his brother would ever see him that happy again.
Eduardo cleared his head, surprised at how easily and far it had strayed, and described to Kylie the disgusting creature that had attacked him and retreated for no reason. Kylie, not sure whether or not to believe all of Ed's story, or consider it a result of the fever and blow to the head, told him he should tell Egon who, apparently, had a backup of Tobin's Spirit Guide on hand in his brain just in case he should ever be separated from the book.
For a few minutes Eduardo thought of how nice it'd be to have Kylie with him while he rested up, to have her exclusively to himself for just a little while. But the thought of that creature still being out there, and whatever had put Kylie into a comatose state, convinced him that no matter how badly he wanted it now was not the time to be selfish. Responsibility, he thought, is the price that comes with being a scientist.
Ignoring Kylie's protests, Eduardo forced himself to sit, then stand up, taking a small break in between the two. Kylie, perhaps a little too insistently, put his arm around her for his support, figuring Eduardo wouldn't put up much of a fight one way or the other.
Lord Marland, along with Egon, Garrett, Roland, and Sath, were sitting around an ornately carved table, finishing dinner. The hanging oil lamps around the dining area made the lighting look almost sort of false, as if light weren't obeying physics as it danced around the faces of Eduardo's friends, deciding where and where not to illuminate.
Eduardo sat and Marland ordered a servant to bring everyone a glass of wine. In between small warming sips he recounted to Egon and his friends his run-in with the mysterious monster. Kylie had been watching Dr. Spengler's face, waiting to pinpoint when he would figure out what it was that Ed was describing. It happened about halfway through Eduardo's tale; Egon's eyes, which until then seemed to be distant and searching, snapped back to attention. He continued listening to the story, but with slightly less interest than previously. The ending to the story, Kylie noticed, seemed to once again raise Egon's interest.
Dr. Spengler leaned back, his wineglass still in hand, and began to contemplate Eduardo's ghost story. He started in his traditional manner. "Hmmm..." That must be his favorite word in any language, Eduardo mused. "Fascinating," Egon continued. Or his second favorite. "Unless I'm mistaken, we seem to be dealing with a Nuckleavee." He raised his glass to his lips and muttered a quick, "almost certain" before taking a sip.
Kylie knew that Egon never doubted anything he knew for certain unless he had good reason. "Why almost?"
Egon paused in thought for a minute before turning to Eduardo. "You said it just turned around and left. Was there any rivers or any kind of moving water nearby?"
"Nothing I saw. I was running on solid ground the whole time, not too far away from here. There aren't any rivers near that area of the castle, right?"
Egon nodded his head disappointedly. "It just doesn't make sense. The only weakness Nuckleavee has is to water. There's no reason it should have just turned. Unless-"
"Unless the Nuckleavee was trying to keep him away from something..." Sath finished for him.
Garrett looked around. "Where's Slimer? Maybe he'd have an easier time sneaking past the Nucklehead than we would."
"I sent him out a short while ago," Marland said, "to report on the sprites. I thought perhaps the two incidents could be related."
"The Restless People allied with a Nuckleavee?" Kylie asked. "I'd hate to see the forces responsible for that."
The others agreed. After dinner, Eduardo caught Kylie as she was leaving the dining area. "After I passed out someone drug me to the castle wearing..." Eduardo stuttered around the subject, as he had the tendency to do, "the kind of robes you wear. You my heroine, chica?"
Kylie smiled, obviously pleased at giving him the news. "Nah, I was still out. Sath felt something was wrong and went out to find you. *She's* your heroine."
Eduardo looked a little angry, and glanced from Sath, waiting patiently by the doorway, to Kylie. "Doesn't that make you suspicious, even a little? Some mysterious force attacks you, and she shows up to help. Some mysterious creature attacks me and she shows up. You sure she's really *saving* us? A little convenient, isn't it?"
Kylie's smile had long since faded as she worked on keeping her voice calm. "I don't know how you can say that. She's just as much my friend as you or any of the other Ghostbusters. We've all saved each other from time to time, but I don't think we'd ever consider each other to be behind it. You're just as much of a child now as you were six years ago, Eduardo. Grow up!" Kylie turned and marched toward the doorway, her hands balled into fists. Sath fell into step with her at the door, but was hesitant to speak at the sight of Kylie's eyes, which flashed with an angry fury while at the same time was moistened with tears of what Sath guessed was regret. Sath knew there was so much regret crammed into the past five years that it was futile to try and pinpoint that with which were responsible for her watery eyes.
After a long hallway walk of silence, Sath spoke, hoping Kylie had calmed down a bit. She spoke quietly, afraid that the mere echo off the stonewalls would be enough to set Kylie off. "Have you given any thought about the coven meeting tonight? A full moon on Samhain, spells should be quite powerful this evening..." Her voice trailed off, unsure whether or not Kylie was even listening.
Kylie tried her best to clear her head. Perhaps an evening of meditation and celebration would help clear her mind. "Sure. I'll be there."
"Good," Sath smiled.
*****
Night had almost completely fallen now, the sky turning from bright red to a dark purple. What remained of the sun cast long shadows over everything underneath it. The two goblins used the long shadows to their advantage, preferring to travel undetected through unusual and enemy territory. Not that the two of them were fearful of these oblivious humans; they had suitable power now to fight off any few unfortunate enough to find them, but under the circumstances, and their plans for the coming of Samhain, they thought it best to conserve their energy and simply sneak around.
The shorter of the two goblins, which was mostly green, went by the name Secta. He and his partner, Lethwren, who had the skin color of an orange and the body shape of a tall gourd, had been leaders of their goblin army for a bit over a century now. Although their leadership rank was rather new, it remained unchallenged nearly the entire time due to their remarkable dedication, cunning, and creativity. When Secta and Lethwren had promised their soldiers ruling over the living world, not a one had doubted.
As the two of them scaled the walls of Lord Marland's castle, Secta found he was having difficulty controlling his anxiety. This was, after all, the first step in their plan, and one of the most crucial as well. Soon they would create a supreme leader, one who would help in bringing them sure victory. But he knew that they were going to need help and that his enemies, these humans, though not to be underestimated, could be easily manipulated.
Secta counted the windows, three up, and then six more to the right. The shudders were closed but unlocked, and Secta and Lethwren quickly slipped inside. The room was bathed in complete darkness, save for the dying light leaking through the open window. The two goblins were cautious, but far from wary, as their eyes worked as well as any night creature. They could each see the shadowed man sitting across the room.
Almost as if their soon-to-be-ally could see the goblin eyes on him, he spoke in a voice filled with so much calmness it seemed a bit forced. "This is the last time I wish for us to meet."
Lethwren's wide grin vanished for a moment, replaced with a look of surprise that soon gave way to his usual ridiculously large smile. Secta's face, however, went from surprise to controlled anger. He knew that if he lost his temper now that they could never win him over for their purposes, and his was a critical part. Brows still drawn in anger, Secta forced his smile back and replied. "If you could simply take our offer, and us your cooperation, we should not be needing to meet any longer-"
"No. I will have no part in your doings. Your offers of eternal survival could not replace my conscious. Or my responsibilities to my people. Every day of my everlasting life would be a reminder of my corruption."
Lethwren's grotesque smile grew a bit more as he reached for a small dagger within his armor by his waist. Secta quickly held out his hand to stop Lethwren, then turned his attention back to the figure in the room. "Very well. But do not think simply because you refuse our offer that you will not see us again. You are overconfident." Secta swore to himself. The job could still be carried out of course, and by the man, bargain or no, but now it would require that much more of their effort, a path he had hoped to go around.
The figure remained calm and replied coldly, "Leave here. Now."
*****
Eduardo watched Kylie catch up with Sath, and then turned away, deciding that perhaps it would be best to block those thoughts from his mind. He instead looked over to find Garrett talking to Dr. Spengler. A moment later Egon walked out of the room at a decidedly hurried pace. Garrett noticed Eduardo and motioned for him to come over.
"What's up with Egon?" Eduardo asked.
"I mentioned it usually doesn't take long for Slimer to do a routine spook scout, and he agreed. I think he's going up to the roof to look for him."
"Why would Slimer be on the roof?"
"No, I think he brought a telescope with him."
"Slimer?"
"No, Egon."
"Oh," Eduardo replied simply. He knew what Garrett had meant in the first place, but didn't want to seem he was too anxious to ask the next question. "So, what do you think of Sath?"
Garrett gave him a look that told him he'd seemed awfully anxious to ask that question. Garrett understood Eduardo too well to be blind to that, but also knew that it wasn't something to make mention of, that Eduardo just had an odd way of working things out for himself, usually involving acting a shade more clueless than he truly was. Garrett instead shrugged, the same reply he always gave to the question.
"Don't you think it's a bit convenient that every time something strange happened recently that she's been around?" Eduardo pursued.
Garrett gave it some thought, the idea never before occurring to him. He soon gave up the suspicion though. "Probably just coincidence, Ed. We've known her for a while now, and I think she's safe. 'Sides," Garrett grinned, "you've been present during all these weird happenings too. How do I know you're not behind it?"
Eduardo took the bait, grinning like a kid, his frustrations forgotten for the moment. "Yeah? Well so were you, amigo. There somethin' you're not telling me?" The two threw a couple of mock punches at each other before leaving the dining area, Eduardo headed for the stables and Garrett headed for his room.
*****
On the way back to his room, Garrett decided to pay a quick visit to Lord Marland's quarters, hoping that if he at least asked to be notified when Slimer returned, he'd rest a bit easier. The door to Marland's chambers, Garrett noticed, was open slightly. He wheeled himself over to the door and pushed it a bit further.
"Hello? Lord Marland?"
"Garrett, yes come in," he heard Marland call from his study. Garrett closed the door behind him. The first room upon entering Marland's chambers was basically just there to impress any who entered. Fine tapestries and other works of art hung on the walls, most depicting heroic battles, one of Marland's favorite subjects. On the walls hung old suits of armor, some dented from blows he'd taken in battle, others dented from blows he'd given in battle.
Garrett took the archway to his right, leading into a study. Except for the dying fire in the fireplace not a lamp was lit. Garrett didn't find the particularly strange, as Marland preferred thinking in near darkness, the dim glow of the fire a massage to the mind. What Garrett did find strange was the extreme cold that surrounded the room, the drop in temperature from the previous room to this one a minor shock. Although Garrett's claustrophobia had lessened over years living in the castle walls, the shadows felt as if they were constricting around him, attempting to choke the life out of him.
Garrett opened his mouth about to speak and closed it again, alarmed. Had the shadows just moved?! Garrett whipped his head around to the left, but whatever motion he thought had caught his eye was apparently gone. Suddenly the darkness seemed to be mocking him.
Marland quickly looked around, alarmed. "Garrett, is something wrong?" he asked, his voice cautiously quiet.
How many nightmares have a seen with my own eyes, Garrett thought angrily to himself, and all it takes is a dark enclosed room to completely unravel me. "No, nothing Lord. I wanted to ask if you would tell me of any news of Slimer you may hear. I'm more than a bit worried about the little guy, it's not like him to be gone so long."
"Oh, yes, of course. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."
"Thank you, Sir." Garrett nodded his head and left. He noticed as he was walking through the main room that the unusual coldness had now seeped its way out of the study. He paused as he left Marland's quarters. Hadn't he closed the door when he came in? Garrett closed the door securely behind him, deciding the either Lord Marland needed to get his door fixed, his claustrophobia was finally starting to get the best of him...or there was something strange going on.
*****
Egon had at first tossed aside his concern for Slimer's whereabouts as simple unnamed suspicion, the strange events of the past few days taking hold of this isolated coincidence in his mind. But Garrett voicing his suspicion brought the feeling that something just out of reach was wrong returning full force. He quickly left Marland's dining area for the stables where his coach was parked. Inside under the seat was a telescope, about a foot and a half in length, wrapped in cloth. He took the telescope, cloth and all, and headed for the rooftop of the castle.
Feeling he'd lost the remaining daylight and knowing even the smaller structures of the castle would be a good enough vantage point, Egon climbed the steps that led to the roof of a small tower. He was disappointed to see the sun already setting, and in the direction he wanted to view, silhouetting most of the area.
He quickly scanned the horizon, but found nothing but trees, no fairies, no Slimer. A silhouetted mass Egon figured to be some forest on the farthest point on the horizon did catch his eye, as it seemed to be swaying much more than any of the trees he could view. Frowning, he lowered the telescope from his face as he tried to recall any recent instances that would clue him in on where Slimer could have gone. Preoccupied in his desperate mental search, he didn't at first notice the shapes, on really short and one slightly taller, running in the shadows not much more than 110 yards away. Egon quickly raised the lens to his eye again, trying to make out the two figures. They appeared to be running away from the castle, but they were too short to be adults. But their clothes intrigued him most of all, their outfits seemed some sort of warrior's garb, thin strips of leather and chain mail, with thick leather knee and elbow pads. The outfits were unlike anything in the castle, yet they seemed hauntingly familiar...
Dr. Spengler nearly dropped his hand-made telescope as he placed the wearers of those outfits. Two goblins that he thought, five years ago, he'd seen the last of after they'd sent his team here. He raised the telescope to track them. He realized as he followed them that they were heading towards that strange grove of wildly swaying trees. But the trees, as he watched where the goblins were heading, seemed to be more a living, moving being rather than the cluster of forest he first believed it to be. With the sun finally disappearing over the horizon he was able to discern outlines and colors in what was before simply a large silhouette. The sun set completely, leaving the sky a sick blood red as Egon watched the two goblins run up to...
An army! What he had previously thought was a grouping of forest was a vast army of goblins, each one hurrying about with tasks of sharpening weapons of welcoming back the two Egon had been following. Dr. Spengler took not that the two goblins he knew from his time, Samhain's minions, had clothing more complicated than anything the rest of the army wore. Egon watched as the two of them walked through the crowd, talking or giving orders. Both goblins simultaneously stopped their mingling and looked at each other. Slowly they both turned around to stare directly at Egon, mischievous and evil grins plastered on their faces.
This time, Egon did drop his spyglass, but hardly noticed, too absorbed was he in whether or not they had actually seen him. From their distance, I would have been no bigger than a microbe. The idea that they knew I was watching them seems highly unlikely. Still, there-
The sound of a quick crack and the shatter of glass brought him back to reality. He looked over the castle wall to see the remains of his telescope lying in a broken heap near the entrance of the castle. Garrett was sitting no more than two feet from the telescope's landing place. Garrett looked up at Egon, his face quickly replacing startlement with a mocking grin. "This wouldn't be some sort of scientifically subtle way of telling me you require my assistance, would it?"
"Garrett," Egon called down, ignoring the comment, "we need to gather the team together and dig up the equipment. The situation's worse than I could have thought."
"Hey, don't worry. We can rescue Slimer from a couple of fairies or pixies or whatever weird thing's got him."
Egon felt a moment of guilt about forgetting all about their missing friend before continuing. "I believe Samhain's going to be paying us a visit soon unless we do something."
Garrett's mocking smile vanished. "I'll go get them."
Egon turned to go back downstairs, but stopped to turn around and once more gaze out toward the dark red horizon. He could see off in the distance the mass that was the goblin army and was almost certain that, though much too far to tell, Samhain's two minions were still staring intently at him. Repressing a shudder that threatened to rock his body to the core, Dr. Spengler turned and headed downstairs to gather his team, the once-titled Ghostbusters. Suddenly a thought popped into Egon's head; what if the Nuckleavee hadn't been trying to keep them away from something, as they had thought? What if it was trying to keep them from leaving? They had to do their best to prepare; Samhain was coming, he could feel it in the goblins' stare.
