Ghost Keeper Read Online Free PDF Page B

glass of the mirror rippled, and Aydin’s reflection stepped out of the mirror.
    “You,” breathed Aydin.
    “Failure,” said his reflection in a hissing voice. “You are a failure, Aydin Kirshar.”
    “Not yet,” he said. “Not yet!”
    “You are!” said the reflection, pointing its short sword. “You failed them all. The Order is ashes, and you could not save them. Your family is dead, and you could not save your blood. Lie down and die, Aydin Kirshar! Lie down and die! It is all that you deserve.”
    “No,” grated Aydin.
    “Listen to me, it’s not real,” said Caina. “It’s a spirit. It’s…”
    “Then die!” shrieked the reflection, and as it did, it changed and rippled, swelling and growing larger. Fangs sprouted in the reflection’s mouth, and claws burst from its fingers and toes. Even the sword became larger, swelling into a jagged black blade the size of a greatsword. The reflection loosed a hideous, nightmarish shriek and sprang at Aydin, crooked sword raised to strike. 
    Aydin rushed to meet the attack, his sword clanging against his reflection’s blade. Caina shouted, but he ignored her, fighting the creature that had emerged from the mirror. They swirled around each other in a furious duel, swords clanging. Caina looked back and forth between them. She had faced a spirit creature like this before, but the last time a renegade magus named Anaxander had banished the spirit back to the netherworld. This time, though, Caina had no way of banishing the spirit…
    Her eyes fell upon the silver rod still clenched in Aydin’s left hand.
    “The rod!” said Caina. “Use the rod!” 
    Aydin made no response to her shout. Likely he had not even heard her, had forgotten that she was there. Caina cursed again, darted forward, and kicked the back of Aydin’s knee. He overbalanced and fell, and as he did, she grabbed the rod from his left hand, its sorcerous power thrumming beneath her fingers. The distorted reflection loomed over Aydin, raising its sword for the kill, and Caina leveled the rod at the mirror and concentrated.
    A pulse of silver light burst from the rod and struck the mirror. There was another flash of light, and the grotesque reflection froze. For a moment it stood motionless, and then it dissolved into swirling gray mist. The mist flowed across the room and poured into the mirror like water swirling away down a drain.
    The last of the mist vanished, and silence fell over the chamber. 
    “Azarma?” said Aydin, blinking in surprise. “What…”
    “Don’t look at the mirror,” said Caina, moving to block his view. “Get up, and for the gods’ sake don’t look at the damned mirror.”
    He blinked, nodded, and got to his feet. 
    “What happened?” he said, backing away until he was no longer facing the mirror. “It was…like a dream. Was it a ward?”
    “Carchomorphic spirit,” said Caina.
    “A what?”
    “Carchomorphic spirit,” she said. “There are different kinds of spirits in the netherworld, just as there are different nations of men in the mortal world. Phobomorphic spirits take the form of your worst fears. Carchomorphic spirits…they’re a little different. They take the form of your regrets and then attack. The Curator must have bound the spirit to guard this chamber.”
    “Ah,” said Aydin, wiping sweat from his brow. “I see why I was vulnerable. I…have many regrets.” He tried to smile. “You must have fewer.”
    Caina thought of her father, of Corvalis and Halfdan.
    “No,” she said. “But I’ve seen this sort of spell before.”
    “I see,” said Aydin. “Azarma. Thank you. If you had not come with me…I would have died here.” For a moment he looked haunted. “And would have failed. I would have come all this way, followed the Curator here from Rasadda, only to fail at the final step.”
    Caina tilted her head to the side. “You’re here for more than a simple robbery, aren’t you?” 
    He nodded.
    “Ready to tell me what it