The Ghostly Guardian by Maggie Marks

Author:Maggie Marks
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510753310
Publisher: Sky Pony
Published: 2020-07-15T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Before Mason could holler for help, someone clamped a hand over his mouth.

Don’t panic! he told himself. It’s a hand—not a paw or claws. It’s a person.

It was a red-haired person with terrified green eyes.

“Asher, let go!” Mason struggled to get loose from his brother’s grip.

When Chase squatted beside them, he raised his finger to his lips. “Shh!” he whispered. “Just look!”

Mason sat up and followed Chase’s gaze. Beyond the bushes they were hiding behind, the spruce trees thinned. A group of villagers were hurrying past. But something’s weird about them, Mason recognized instantly.

They wore brown robes, like farmers, but these villagers had gray skin—like witches. Their bushy eyebrows were black as night. And they carried bows, the arrows drawn and ready for a fight.

Mason squinted and realized that the weapons weren’t bows—they were crossbows. And in that moment, he knew exactly what he was looking at. “Pillagers,” he whispered.

“Yep,” said Asher. His eyes danced, as if they’d just discovered a treasure chest buried beneath a spruce. He reached for an arrow and began to load his own crossbow.

“Don’t!” Mason grabbed a hold of Asher’s arm. “There’s too many of them. We’re outnumbered.”

He counted the pillagers as they streamed past. One, two, three, four …

When the last pillager stepped out of the trees, Mason sucked in his breath. This one wore a giant banner on his head, the image of a hostile pillager bearing down from it. “Who is that?” he asked.

Chase answered in a fierce whisper. “The patrol captain. He’s the leader.”

As the captain disappeared into the thicket, Asher bolted upright. “We’re going to lose him!” he cried. He took off after the captain, his crossbow raised and ready.

“Stop!” Mason called. He sprang up, trying to grab the back of Asher’s shirt. But someone else beat him to it.

Mr. Diaz lifted Asher right off the ground and held him tight. “No, son,” he said. “You don’t want to fight the captain. If you do, you could suffer the bad omen effect.”

The bad omen effect. Mason had no idea what those words meant, but he shivered.

Asher stopped struggling. “What’s so bad about it?” he asked.

“You can’t go into a village with the bad omen effect,” Chase explained. “You’ll bring bad luck with you. The pillagers will raid the village—other hostile mobs will too. The villagers could be killed, and it would be all your fault!”

Asher swallowed hard.

Well, that worked, thought Mason with relief. He won’t be going after any patrol captains now.

But Asher had one more question. “Are the pillagers heading to the village?” he asked. “Are they going to attack?”

A shadow fell over Mr. Diaz’s face. “They are heading east,” he said. Then he glanced up at the rising moon and sighed. “We’ll be the ones who are attacked if we stay out here. Mobs are going to start spawning soon. Let’s head back to shore and build our campfire, shall we?”

Chase nodded and followed his father, but Asher lagged behind. “C’mon!” Mason said. This time, he wasn’t going to let Asher out of his sight—not when there was a forest full of pillagers.

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