Page 107 of Echoes of the Banshee

“Thank you for coming,” he says like it’s painful.

“Grith vek,” I greet, “The stone is true.”

The others exchange looks as he studies me for a moment, then nods.

“Who’s who?” he asks Tennant and the boys are introduced and directed to where they’ll be working.

“And the girl?”

“We’re not sure of her power yet,” Tennant says cautiously. “So she’s just here to observe.”

Hands behind my back I watch the three boys and Tennant work. A handful of goblins stand around the room observing them. Magic dances around the room but keeps skirting off the body. Time passes slowly and I begin to shiver, even in two jackets.

“Are you the witch who visited the library?” Professor Levy asks.

“Yes sir,” I tell him. “I apologize if I was not allowed.”

“All the goblins who were there said you were respectful. If you continue to be, you’re welcome anytime.”

“Thank you sir, I appreciate it.”

Tennant calls me over and I give a polite nod to Professor Levy and approach the body. “Try sending some magic in, see if anything happens.”

I stare at his face, eyes closed. Lazlo is the only person I’ve seen die, he didn’t go peacefully. A single tear escapes my eye and I wipe it away quickly. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Billy. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to touch you,” I tell the body before placing my hands as Tennant told me. “Torth yl gul. May the stone find you.”

My magic goes into his body, searching. It comes up empty. Is this necromancy? This is the second time she’s had me try. Is that what Tennant thinks I have?

“Your magic went in, how did it feel?” Tennant asks.

“Hollow,” I admit. I stare at his strong face, his brown hair. Wait. Brown hair? I look at his hand. The ring is on.

“Why is he still wearing his ring?”

“We couldn’t get it off, his finger is swollen,” Levy says.

Tennant and I exchange a look. She comes over and together we work on the ring. She casts spells but nothing will make it budge.

“Cut it off,” Tennant tells Levy and he vanishes for a few minutes and returns with a goblin knife. He very carefully pries it under, the ring holds.

“Someone enchanted his ring.” He gets on his phone and a dozen more goblins come inside. I step back with Tennant and wait as they debate. Finally. They cut his finger off.

The illusion breaks and his body becomes a map of all the things that happened to him.

The knife clatters to the floor as Levy see’s it. I pick it up and that’s when I notice it.

The raw skin where the cuffs had held him.

I’m not the only one they took.

The room moves in slow motion. My grip on the knife tightening.

“How long was he missing?” I ask.

“Three months,” Professor Levy replies, his hands moving reverently over the damaged body.

“Others?” I ask.

“We’ve had maybe a dozen goblins go missing across the country this year,” one of the new goblins asks me. “Do you know what this is?”