The Cor Chronicles: Volume 02 - Fire and Steel by Martin V. Parece II Page B

on the sides of its head. With no details at all, its shape was completely smooth and fluid, and as far as he could tell, it was made purely of blood. It held a huge, six foot long two handed sword, also red as blood though it glinted in the late morning light like steel.
    Realizing he had stopped in his tracks upon entering the practice grounds, Cor started to sprint the hundred or so feet that separated him from Rael, garnering a sidelong glance from the older Dahken. As he ran, Cor reflexively reached for Soulmourn and Ebonwing, only to find he left them above in his room. He was close, less than twenty feet from the scene, when the thing suddenly jumped several feet to its right and stood with its legs slightly bent to lower its stance. The quick move made Cor stop his run, coming to a skidding halt next to Rael, and he swore he could see the creature’s chest rise and fall as if it breathed heavily.
    Cor momentarily diverted his attention to the unmoving form of Geoff on the ground some feet away. A small wooden buckler shield was strapped to his left arm, and a shortsword lay on the ground near his right hand. The boy had three shallow wounds on his legs that were no longer bleeding. In fact only a small amount of blood showed around the boys wounds, already growing sticky and dry. Why Geoff was unconscious, perhaps near death, and what this thing was, Cor had no idea.
    Rael sheathed his longsword and held his hand out to Cor to indicate silence. Cor didn’t speak; in fact, he worked to control and slow his breathing.
    “This is a blood ghast,” Rael said softly. “I have never seen one before, but I have read of them. It is a rare gift, and the first of whom to manifest one was Lord Dahken Drath.”
    “The one Tannes sent into the north,” Cor said, remembering the Dahken history he had read what seemed like a lifetime ago.
    “Indeed. For all purposes, Geoff’s body is dead as we speak. His essence is in the ghast. I can only explain it as saying that it is the manifestation of Geoff’s true Dahken self,” Rael continued; the blood ghast stood on the balls of its feet as if ready to strike, still appearing to breathe heavily, but it did not move otherwise. “That thing is as deadly a warrior as exists. If you strike it, you will wound Geoff, and its attacks will become more deadly. If it wounds you, it will feed your strength back to him, making it stronger and healing his wounds. Do you see that Geoff’s wounds do not bleed?”
    Cor could only nod.
    “There is no blood in him now, but if the ghast returns to him before the wounds are healed, they will begin to bleed again.”
    “What if I deal the ghast a mortal wound and it returns to Geoff?” Cor asked.
    “Then he would likely bleed to death,” Rael answered.
    “What is the point?” came a female voice from behind them; it seemed Thyss decided to dress and follow Cor down. “Couldn’t I easily slay the boy now? He is vulnerable.”
    The wraith’s head snapped to the side when Thyss posed her question.
    “I do not know for certain,” replied Rael, “but I imagine the blood ghast will immediately attack anyone who attempts to harm Geoff or the wraith itself. What matters is this - Geoff must learn to control the ghast. He must learn to transfer his consciousness to it and return when he wills it. As it is, the thing manifested without warning.”
    “How long do you think it will last?” Cor asked. As he did so, he slowly approached the ghast with his hands open, palms up in front of him. The blood ghast allowed Cor to approach within a few feet of it so that he could look more closely. Cor had the odd sensation that it was doing the same thing, even though it had no eyes of which to speak.
    “I cannot say, but I do not think long.”
    Fortunately, Rael imagined correctly. He collected the others and left the practice grounds for the purpose of finding a snack, leaving Cor and Thyss in quiet regard of the blood ghast. Somehow knowing that