Act 6.

"Well, I think I am definitely lost." said Linda, looking around the large cavern they had just entered after winding their way through a few tunnels.

Margaret snorted and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Linda looked down at her friend in mock anger.

"I suppose you’re not?" she asked.

In response, the dark knight pointed up to a small scratch on the wall just above her head. If she had not pointed it out, Linda would not have noticed it. The mark was not in the shape of an arrow but was a symbol more than anything else.

"Let me guess." said Linda. "Only you understand the meaning."

Margaret silently nodded and tried not to smile.

"Well." said Linda. "I grew up on the streets and they had their own markings and you memorised other places because leaving marks could lead your enemies to your door. But thank you for thinking of that."

"You’re welcome." said Margaret.

Linda turned to Mikako who was sitting on a rock with a book open on her lap and others open on the ground at her feet.

"Anything yet?" she asked.

"Not yet Champion." came the answer. "But I believe that I have found a backup that may or may not work. I think that may be a last resort, as it is a little dangerous."

"Can he really get us in here?" asked Margaret. "He is rather large and most of these tunnels would be a tight fit."

Mikako looked up at them.

"Of everything I have been told of him, it is Toukon’s insubstantialness that makes him most different from other dragons." she said to them.

"He can pass through walls and can change size if need be. But he must expend energy to do so and that is why we are trying to make him work as much as possible to get at us."

"That’s why he changed colour just before attacking earlier." said Linda. "He was making himself solid to get us."

"Exactly." said Mikako. "The more energy he expends the less time he has before he must rest again. We last long enough and he has to let us go and return to his resting place."

"Sounds iffy." said Margaret. "How do we know we can outlast him?"

"We don’t." said Mikako. "But until I find something better, or either of you can actually destroy him, unlikely as that is even with your abilities, that is the only plan we have right now."

"I wish we had picked a better place though." said Margaret as a little shiver ran across her body.

"What wrong Margaret?" prodded Linda with a little laughter in her voice. "Scared of the ghosts."

"Yes, thank you." said Margaret a little too forcefully. "I would rather face a horde of angry bugbears than talk with a spirit. They give me the creeps."

Linda laughed.

"I have seen you defeat a whole regiment of soldiers by yourself and yet someone tells you a ghost story and you are up half the night."

She went over and hugged her friend.

"Don’t worry." she said. "I don’t believe in ghosts, and I certainly don’t think the stories of this place are true."

"Oh, I certainly hope that is not the case." said a voice from further down the cavern. "That would make me only a figment of your imagination, and that would be very demoralising."

Everyone turned towards the voice.

Through the wall of the cavern emerged a figure. He was dresses in the garb of a court mage but was pale and you could almost, but not quite, see through him.

"If I hadn’t been off the stuff for nearly a year now, I’d say I was having a flashback or something." said Linda.

"Flashback of what?" asked the figure.

"Never mind." said Linda. "Just who are you and where did you come from?" she asked.

"My name is Byron." he said bowing. "I was court mage to his highness King Larson."

"He hasn’t ruled in over..."

"400 years." finished Byron with a sigh. "I know, don’t remind me. It has been a long time."

"Why are you here?" asked Linda.

"Well, it seems that if you die in here, the power of the shadows can hold you here. The only way to get away from it is to have your bones moved to far enough away that the spirit can free itself from the earthly part."

"Wouldn’t the bones deteriorate to dust at one point, leaving nothing left behind to hold the spirit?" asked Mikako.

"You would think so, but there are forces here that act differently than expected. So the bones don’t turn to dust and spirits like myself are doomed to stay here." he answered.

"Well." said Margaret regaining some of her composure. "That is all sad and such, but we have a bigger problem on our hands."

"Ah yes." said Byron. "That large creature outside."

"I believe from what I have heard of your conversation, that he is after her." he said pointing to Mikako. "Or more specifically her magic."

"Correct." said Mikako. "So you will excuse us if we get back to figuring a way out of this." And she turned back to her books.

"I can help you." he said.

Everyone turned to face him.

"Pardon?" said Linda.

"I can help you." repeated the spirit.

"How." asked Mikako.

"I know a spell that will definitely get that dragon of your backs and make killing you worthless." he said.

"And you are willing to teach me this spell." she asked.

Byron smiled.

"For a price."

"What price?" asked Linda.

"I want you to get my bones back from the ones who hold them and take them out of here when you leave." he answered.

"And who holds them?" asked Linda suspiciously.

"Oh." said Byron. "Just a small tribe of trolls."

"How small?" asked Margaret.

"7."

"Oh boy."