Magic Parcel by Frank English

that is the legacy each Seth appearance and disappearance leaves. You will have to go alone. I shall not be able to come with you.”
    â€œBut ... but ...” stammered Jimmy.
    â€œWe were kind of counting on your support,” Tommy interrupted.
    â€œI cannot be with you,” Algan repeated, “but do not despair. One whom I trust well and whose power equals mine but in another direction, shall watch over you, and, should the need arise, render such aid as necessary.”
    â€œWho will this person be?” Tommy again insisted. “How shall we recognise him?”
    â€œYou will know ,” Algan reassured. “The time is now right. Further delay should not impede your quest. The time of the Otherworldlings, fast approaches. I say only to you, keep the Craggs of Gotts Point in your sights and do not deviate towards the Old Watch Tower. There you will not find the end to your search.”
    They were then aware of a keen air in their nostrils, a slight breeze through their hair, and Algan’s voice in their minds only. The cave was no longer around them, but the open country lay in front and the sinister black silhouette of the Craggs lay before them in the distant gloom of approaching night. On an instinct, the boys turned sharply to catch a final glimpse of the Enchanted Forest, to find that the land between them and the Western Mountains was open, with no trees to be seen anywhere.
    â€œWell, Jim,” Tommy shrugged, “we may have dreamt it, but those Craggs are real enough. So, come on! Let’s get on!”
    â€œI’m afraid Tom,” Jimmy said huddling closer to his brother as they forced a way as quickly as possible through the dense, thorny undergrowth.
    â€œDon’t worry about it,” his brother replied. “So am I, but we must keep on. Everything depends on us. This darkness should help even though I can’t see the way very well.”
    Â 
    The darkness hissed as its silence deepened around them. The breeze they had experienced earlier had almost imperceptibly deserted them, leaving a close stifling atmosphere which before long had them gasping for air in the increasingly frequent rest stops they made. Bushes and trees loomed and lurched at them out of the darkness as they blundered on in their haste to be free of this tight, claustrophobic feeling. They didn’t seem to have been moving very long but the magic of this place was such that they felt as if an age had passed since their encounter with Algan in his cave. How could they have travelled so far? Or was it so far? Was this Algan’s doing? Was he helping them after all?
    Tommy stopped dead in his tracks, and, grasping Jimmy’s arm pulled him to a halt by the bole of a huge oak tree.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” asked Jimmy.
    â€œSh! Sh!” hissed his brother, half crouching as if ready to spring away. “Listen!”
    â€œI can’t hear anything...” Jimmy whispered, the perspiration now running freely down his face and back, “...except for a slight crackling of dry leaves on the branches around ...”
    â€œThere is no wind!” Tommy replied. “Besides, all the leaves are still green ...”
    â€œWhat is it then?” Jimmy asked, tiny little prickles of fear beginning to creep slowly up his spine. “It’s getting closer and louder, and seems to be spreading all around us.”
    â€œI don’t ... oh my god!” Tommy uttered, dropping to an almost inaudible croak. “Over there...look!”
    Through the gloom, some fifty or so paces away, a faintly luminous grey mass oozed between the trees and shrubs towards them. The crackle and rattle of member against member was unmistakable, and as the mass moved nearer, dozens of individual grey bodies could be picked out with ease. The leading one sent out a high, shrill squeak that homed the others onto their prey. The Senti would not fail this time.
    The boys, eyes wide with